A few hours before the start of every game, Brandon McManus takes to the field with his trusty place-kicking holder for a routine that has not changed, no matter the time, the day, the circumstances.

From hash mark to hash mark he moves, working his way back from extra-point distance to beyond 60 yards, nailing each kick before grabbing his holder and starting the process all over again on the opposite side of the field, sending the football over heads of opponents warming up and a gaggle of fans roaming the field and sidelines.

During the weekdays, McManus strays little from his other routine that he established long ago, hitting kick after kick on a separate field alongside punter Riley Dixon and long snapper Casey Kreiter.

“I’m completely different than a lot of other guys,” McManus has said. “I use the (organized team activities) to kind of get ready for season in the summer. A lot of guys will continue to kick and I don’t know if that’s why they get injured more than I do because their muscles kind of wear down. I’m a little different. I stay in shape and I work out a lot but I don’t do any kicking really. I might kick once before we report at any time. That’s just kind of my mentality and it has worked for me.”

The life of a kicker is built on rhythm and routine, often far removed from that of the rest of the team. McManus has his, and despite missing four field goals and having another blocked — all in Denver — this season, he’s sticking with his routine, but has added to it.

He’s not in a funk, he says. He’s not under pressure from a new contract signed before the season-opener and the rhythm he’s honed for years isn’t off, he says.

“It’s still very fluid in what we do,” he said. “… I haven’t missed a kick in practice or warm-ups this season. It’s just the games, and right now in the games, I stink.”

So the Broncos have tried to simulate game-day pressure situations in practice for McManus.

“And that was his suggestion,” special-teams coordinator Brock Olivo said. “He was like, ‘Hey, create this for me. Do this for me.’ He came in with a whole laundry list of stuff that he wanted to do, to his credit. He’s been great about it.”

McManus’ first miss was a 50-yard attempt with about four minutes remaining in what turned into a nail-biter against the Chargers. Los Angeles had closed the Broncos’ lead to three points and McManus, teeing up for a kick he routinely makes in practice, launched it wide right. Denver held on to win.

The next? A 49-yarder early in the Broncos’ rout of the Cowboys.

“He’s fine,” coach Vance Joseph said after. “He’s a weapon for us. I watched the guy make all 10 kicks in preseason and I watch him every day make kicks.”

Two weeks later, McManus’ 29-yard attempt in the fourth quarter against the Raiders bounced off the left upright. Broncos still won that one, too.

“I’m not concerned,” Joseph said after. “He has to make that kick. That kick would have been critical for us to be up by three scores and that game is basically put away.”

But concern, at least outside the Broncos’ headquarters, was raised after the most recent misses, in Denver’s loss to the Giants. A 35-yard attempt that could have tied the game in the first quarter was wide right.

“You just can’t miss a field goal like that and set the tone for the game,” McManus said. “It hurts a lot of people to have a good drive like that, get down the field and then you miss a short one. Right now I’ve just got to get it going in the games.”

Then a 53-yarder in the third quarter was blocked.

Never before this season had McManus missed a kick shorter than 33 yards, and never before has he missed five within the first five games of a season. And, inevitably, the critics were quick to chime in, often with biting remarks and personal attacks.

“I’m my own biggest critics so whatever else someone says about me, I really don’t care,” McManus said. “Obviously, I’m disappointed in my performance so far, so I don’t care what anyone else says.”

And there’s good a reason neither he nor his coaches are panicking.

“I’ve seen the guy make every kick in practice,” Joseph said. “… He’s a worker and he will work himself out of this, in my opinion. He’s a talent also, so he has to get back to getting in rhythm and working certain kicks that he’s missed. It’s really been certain kicks that he’s missed and it’s obvious if you watch the tape.” Related Articles Kiszla: After Broncos lose to Pittsburgh and begin another NFL season 0-2, veteran Shelby Harris sounds warning: “We’ve got to change the culture”

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Last season, McManus missed five field goals and had an extra-point attempt blocked. He finished the year with an 85.3 field-goal percentage and a spot atop the Broncos’ history books as the most accurate kicker in team history (84.4 percent in his career as a Bronco).

In 2015, after missing four field goals and a PAT in a five-game stretch late in the season, he was perfect in the playoffs and helped Denver to a Super Bowl 50 victory.

“After the (Giants) game, I said at least one good thing that I’ve held near and dear to myself is that I’ve never missed two in a row,” McManus said. “I’ve always been able to come back and make it. I’ve never missed two in a row and I hope to keep that streak.”

Hours before the start of the season, the Broncos signed McManus, a team captain, to a new deal that runs through 2020. McManus sought the security but has remained a realist. “If you continue to miss, there is no security in this league,” he said.

But he denies feeling any added pressure to perform now that his contract has changed. Pressure, he believes, is a symptom of having something left to prove. McManus no longer needs to prove he can make 30-yard kicks.

He’s done it. Daily. It’s part of his routine.

“It’s still the same every week,” he said. “I still kick a decent amount of extra points and then we just rotate back inside — left hash, right hash, back and forth to certain distances.

“There’s no extra motivation for me to perform at a higher level. I just want to be able to play at a high level like I was.”