Green Bay Packers activate K Mason Crosby from PUP list

The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman reported on Tuesday that the Green Bay Packers activated kicker Mason Crosby from the physically unable to perform list, where Crosby spent all of training camp due to a knee injury. Had the Packers kept him on the regular season PUP list, which the team did with running back Kylin Hill, it would have cost Crosby the first four games of the regular season (at minimum.)

This move was expected once Schneidman reported that Green Bay had let go replacement kicker Ramiz Ahmed about an hour before 53-man rosters went final. Ahmed, by way of the USFL, was the Packers’ placekicker for the final two preseason games of the summer after initial replacement starter Gabe Brkic sustained a hamstring injury in the team’s preseason opener which severely limited the team’s ability to evaluate players on kickoffs.

As of yesterday, head coach Matt LaFleur was unsure of Crosby’s status going into the regular season but had stated throughout the preseason that Crosby’s injury was right on pace for an expected return around camp cuts. Now it’s official: Crosby will go into his 16th season as the Packers’ placekicker without ever having yet to miss a game.

Hopefully, Crosby gets a little more help than he had last season, Despite going 3-of-4 from 50-plus yards in 2021, the Colorado product’s field goal percentage was just 73.5 percent last year due to issues with the protection, snapping and holding on special teams. That was the second-lowest mark in his career, only behind his 2012 campaign (63.6 percent.)

It was also confirmed earlier that Jack Coco won the team’s snapping gig. Following the announcement of Crosby’s activation and Ahmed’s release, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweeted, “Don’t be surprised if Ahmed is back on the [practice squad] in case something goes wrong.” Previously, the Packers had kept J.J. Molson on their practice squad and used one of their few weekly practice squad protections to ensure that he stuck on the 16-man unit. Molson was beaten out by Dominik Eberle in May, who was later replaced by Brkic.