In First Big Test, Did Trey Smack Kick Struggles to Curb at Packers Family Night?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – No player faced a more important Family Night than rookie Green Bay Packers kicker Trey Smack.

After an up-and-down start to his career, all eyes were on the sixth-round pick in his first performance in front of a big crowd at Lambeau Field on Friday night.

For the most part, he delivered. Smack made 6-of-7 field-goal attempts, potentially a big step in the right direction for the team’s next shot at finding a playoff-caliber kicker.

“I know he missed the 51-yarder, but other than that, I thought he was dead on,” coach Matt LaFleur said after practice.

Trey Smack Can’t Wait for Sundays

Smack said he was "honored" to be on the field.

“Yeah, 100 percent. I can feel it,” he said. “Now I know what it looks like, kind of deal, and I just can’t wait for Sundays.”

With all the kicks coming within the flow of the practice, which is much more realistic than a lengthy field-goal period, which typically happens on the practice field, Smack made field goals of 38, 43 and 45 yards. On the 45-yarder, the ball was about halfway to the goalposts when he celebrated with holder Daniel Whelan.

That made him 4-of-4, if you include the 33-yarder that is part of the final sequence of the team’s usual pregame routine.

His hot night was interrupted when he was wide left from 51.

Up next were a pair of 2-minute drills. Tyrod Taylor moved the offense to the 2, but penalties pushed the unit back to the 17. Smack made a 35-yarder to tie the score. Jordan Love’s 2-minute drill set up Smack’s 42-yard field goal, which he made. A penalty on the kick moved it back 47, and he made that one, too, which also tied the score.

“I felt like it felt like a game, for sure,” Smack said. “It was a little fast, but it definitely felt like a game, for sure. So I definitely got my reps in tonight.”

So, on what LaFleur called a “sloppy” night, the rookie kicker took a step in the right direction.

“I think every opportunity for him to get out [is important], especially when it naturally is a little bit more amped up when there's a bunch of people in the stands,” LaFleur told Packers.com’s Larry McCarren before practice. “But I'm confident in his progress and excited for him.”

High Hopes, High Expectations for Rookie

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst drafted Anders Carlson in the sixth round in 2023. He had a bad rookie year and didn’t make the roster in 2024. That season started with Brayden Narveson before Gutekunst pivoted to Brandon McManus. McManus had an excellent season, which ended with him getting another contract.

His injury-plagued 2025 season ended with a playoff disaster at the Bears. The Packers drafted Smack in the sixth round in hopes of finally kicking their kicking problems to the curb.

“I think in the opportunities they have to do it, particularly in the competitive opportunities, is just perform,” Gutekunst said this week. “That’s the most important thing and that’s going to give me faith and trust. But he also has a pretty good history in college that we evaluated and it’s why we did what we did.

“I think he’s had a pretty good start to camp so far. He’s kicked inside in Lambeau, which I think is the first time we’ve done that during camp, and he’s done really well. I’m excited for him. He’s got to continue to improve. But my patience, I’d like to have more of it. I always would, but I think we’re going to have a pretty good football team this year, and if you’re going to make it and be part of it, you got to perform.”

Smack has struggled on the practice field, though special teams coordinator Cam Achord downplayed that this week by saying he places more importance on what kickers do inside stadiums.

“What’s been really great for me and him and all the specialists is when we go to practice, the wind is there,” Achord said. but when we go into Lambeau and do walk-throughs and stuff, honestly, I look at the wind there and I look at it at night, and then we go in there and it’s like, wow, you don’t feel anything, you know. So, I don’t put as much stock on the practice stuff as I will in the stadium stuff.”

Fair enough.

About an hour before practice, Smack went through the team’s usual pregame routine with snapper Cal Adomitis and Whelan. To the north end zone, he missed from 51 but appeared to make all his other attempts. To the sound end zone, it appeared he was perfect, including a 61-yard bomb.

The team’s usual pregame routine before going back inside the locker room includes an extra point and a punt. Smack made the extra point; all the quarterbacks were underneath the goalposts and signaled the kick was good.

Confidence Up for Smack

Achord will rely on numerous angles to help Smack find the critical consistency.

“It all depends on the contact they make when you really slow it down,” Achord said. “Sometimes, you can’t see that when you’re watching it live. You’ll see at practice. I move around different spots during the field-goal periods, just looking at different things because there’s different aspects when you’re viewing it. Whether you’re in front of the kicker, behind the kicker, to the side of the kicker, you’re able to see different things. That’s why we have all the camera views because you’re looking at multiple things, right?

“You just got to have him be a consistent person every day he’s here and just continue to improve on it because there’s something to probably tweak or look at every day, and you just want to see him get better. And it’s not so much the makes and misses right now. It’s more so about the ball contact is what I’m looking at.”

Even during the tough times of OTAs and the start of training camp, Smack kept the same even-keeled approach.

After a good performance on Friday, that’s not going to change.

“You know, it’s good,” he said. “Definitely built a little bit of confidence up tonight. But we can always kick better.”

The festivities at Family Night begin in about 15 minutes. Here are five veterans who might be worth a shot at positions of need. ⬇️https://t.co/XZ1JrUg5Xa
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 8, 2026

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