The Packers had two kickers active. Mason Crosby kicked and Ramiz Ahmed didn't. Here's why.

GREEN BAY – Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby went into the locker room during warm-ups not expecting to handle kickoffs during the team's 41-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Before he left the locker room to return to the field, the job was his again.

In a strange twist of events, the Packers brought up practice squad kicker Ramiz Ahmed to take over the kickoff duties from Crosby only to find out he suffered a significant groin injury during one of his kicks at the end of warm-ups.

“I’m honestly not sure exactly what happened,” Ahmed said. “I’m sure we’ll take a look at it (on video), the trainers will. It was on one particular kick and it just kind of went. I tried to hit another after that and it was just not (right).”

Ahmed reported it to the trainers and rather than risk it, they shut him down.

It’s expected Ahmed will undergo diagnostic tests Monday to see if it will be possible for him to return this season. Groin injuries are extremely difficult to overcome for kickers and Ramiz's status is up in the air.

Crosby had not been hitting the ball deep enough on kickoffs of late and special teams coach Rich Bisaccia told him that he was going to let Ahmed kick against the Vikings so he could rest his leg. So, Crosby didn’t take any kickoffs in warm-ups.

On the opening kickoff, Crosby hit a line-drive knuckleball that dangerous returner Kene Nwangwu returned 20 yards to the Minnesota 33.

“There’s no excuse,” Crosby said of the ugly kickoff, “but I hadn’t hit a kick in warm-ups. I’ve hit a million of them, but I expect to kick a good one.”

Kickoff returns were a problem the rest of the game. Nwangwu averaged 28.2 yards on five returns while two more were touchbacks. Given the Packers were ahead by a lot most of the game, it didn’t hurt the special teams.

Whether the Packers wanted to rest Crosby’s leg or were leaning toward Ahmed because he was kicking off better isn’t clear, but Ahmed has been kicking all year while on the practice squad and said he felt he was hitting the ball much better since a poor effort in his only other call-up.

“I was really excited,” Ahmed said. “I played in the Dallas game this year and didn’t have the greatest game. I was hoping to help the guys out and pin them deep. Sometimes it’s just out of your hands."

The Packers signed Ahmed on Aug. 14 after releasing Gabe Brkic, who had been kicking while Crosby recovered from offseason knee surgery. Ahmed had kicked in the USFL during the spring and immediately impressed the coaches with his accuracy.

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He surmised that the injury might have stemmed from not having much of a break over the past 10 months, having gone right from the USFL to full-time kicking in training camp and in practice. The fact the Packers have kept him around and intended to use him in a must-win game shows how much they think of him.

Crosby may not have had the best day kicking off, but he hit field goals of 26 and 56 yards, nearly tying his career-high of 58 yards. The long one came with 4 seconds left in the first half and the ball bounced off the crossbar and through to give the Packers a 27-3 lead.

“I think it was just one of those where it was the max distance,” he said. “Fortunately, it came down in the right way on the post. It landed just square, I guess, with the momentum going forward and we were able to get it to go the right direction.”