Trey Smack, Fired-Up Coaches Highlight First Open Practice at Packers OTAs

The Green Bay Packers held their second practice of OTAs on Wednesday. On the field, the new coaches made their presence felt, Trey Smack made his debut and Evan Williams grabbed an interception.

Here’s what you need to know from a sun-splashed Wednesday at Ray Nitschke Field.

High-Energy Coaches

One of the first drills of the day was a takeaway/ball-security period. The new defensive passing-game coordinator, former Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, shouted his approval with every ball caught by his players.

Up next was a tackling drill. Again, Babich provided energetic feedback as the defensive backs got low to take down a dummy.

It was Babich in a nutshell.

The new special teams coordinator, Cam Achord, has a similar approach. When new receiver/returner Skyy Moore sprinted upfield after fielding a punt, Achord yelled, “That’s good (expletive)!”

During a punt-fielding drill late in practice, Achord gave the returner a tennis ball. Just as he was about to catch a kick off the foot of Daniel Whelan, the returner tossed the tennis ball in the air with a goal of catching both. Jakobie Keeney-James showed a knack for it.

Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams goes through a tackling drill at OTAs on Wednesday as Bobby Babich supervises. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The “Starting” Lineups

Here was the first snap of the day:

Offense: LT Jordan Morgan, LG Aaron Banks, C Sean Rhyan, RG Anthony Belton, RT Darian Kinnard, TE Luke Musgrave, TE Josh Whyle, WR Savion Williams, WR Bo Melton, RB Chris Brooks and QB Jordan Love.

Defense: DE Barryn Sorrell, DT Karl Brooks, DT Javon Hargrave, DE Lukas Van Ness, LB Edgerrin Cooper, LB Zaire Franklin, CB Keisean Nixon, CB Carrington Valentine, S Xavier McKinney, S Evan Willliams and slot Javon Bullard.

More OTA Lineups

That was an unusual skill-position grouping to start the day for the offense. A more fitting group consisted of TE Luke Musgrave, WR Christian Watson, WR Matthew Golden, WR Skyy Moore and RB Chris Brooks.

The first snap of a 3-4 grouping included a defensive line of Karl Brooks, Javon Hargrave and Warren Brinson. So, at a nose tackle group consisting of holdovers Nazir Stackhouse and Jonathan Ford and third-round rookie Chris McClellan, it was Brinson manning the nose.

There were all sorts of defensive fronts shown by defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. At one point, Brenton Cox was the only edge rusher. At other points, especially on third down, he had three edges on the field, with Lukas Van Ness moving inside. In that scenario, Dani Dennis-Sutton was one of the edge players, making him the first rookie to get a first-team snap.

The No. 2 offensive line consisted of LT Brant Banks, LG John Williams, C Jager Burton, RG Travis Glover and RT Karsen Barnhart.

Williams’ growth could be a huge asset. He was a seventh-round pick last year who did not play as a rookie due to a back injury. Toward the end of practice, he got some first-team reps at left guard between Morgan and Rhyan. Then, he got some snaps at center on a line that included Belton shifting to left tackle.

The No. 3 offensive line at times included LT Dalton Cooper, LG Josh Gesky, C Jager Burton, RG Dylan Barrett and RT Karsen Barnhart. Glover also got some work at right tackle.

What about the first draft pick, cornerback Brandon Cisse? He was part of a No. 2 secondary that included Cisse and Jaylin Simpson as the cornerbacks, Johnathan Baldwin in the slot, and Kitan Oladapo and Mark Perry as the safeties.

Trey Smack Attack

Rookie kicker Trey Smack had a relatively easy day. Known for his big leg, the Packers gave him a series of relative chip shots. He kicked eight field goals ranging from 26 yards to 35 yards. He appeared to make seven, with the potential miss drifting right.

There’s some guesswork involved, though. The net meant to prevent kicks from zooming from Ashwaubenon to Suamico was only about halfway up the uprights, so kick after kick boomed over the net and was fielded by Skyy Moore. There were no officials – and no Aaron Rodgers – to help.

The other kicker on the roster, Lucas Havrisik, did not kick.

The team released Brandon McManus, the team’s kicker for most of the past two seasons, earlier this month.

“I think it was only fair to Brandon and to our football team to make the move now,” coach Matt LaFleur said.

But why not have more competition to help get Smack – the presumptive kicker – ready for what’s to come?

“I think we were just trying to put Trey in the best position possible moving forward, and he’s going to get the bulk of it,” LaFleur replied.

Packers Injury Report

Including running back Josh Jacobs, edge Micah Parsons and tight end Tucker Kraft, 16 players did not practice.

MarShawn Lloyd was limited during OTAs today. A total off 16 players did not practice.https://t.co/27nrV74ReO
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) May 27, 2026

With an ongoing investigation, coach Matt LaFleur said as little as humanly possible about Jacobs.

Asked if there had been any communication with Jacobs over the last few days, LaFleur said, “Respectfully, I’m not going to elaborate on anything.”

Packers Practice Highlights

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) passes the ball during practice on Wednesday at OTAs. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Even Jordan Love needs practice. One of his first passes of the day was a bomb to Christian Watson, which was underthrown and intercepted by Evan Williams.

Chris Brooks, who is serving as the No. 1 back without Josh Jacobs, was stuffed by Lukas Van Ness. Jaden Nixon was met in the hole by linebacker Kristian Welch.

With Brant Banks as the left tackle, Savion Williams had a big run on an end-around. Banks sealed his man to help spring the play.

A screen to Luke Musgrave went nowhere because of Xavier McKinney. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was fired up.

Gannon was fired up again moments later when Love’s bootleg pass to Musgrave was swatted aside by Keisean Nixon.

On the next play, it appeared Nixon thought he had an interception coming his way but Christian Watson turned on the jets, stepped in front of Nixon and made an excellent all-hands catch.

The new backup quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, booted to his right and hit Savion Williams in the flat. Taylor did a nice job working his arm angle to get the ball past the rush of Dani Dennis-Sutton.

“He’s been awesome, man,” coach Matt LaFleur said of Taylor. “He’s really come into the room and is absorbing everything. He does have a little bit of familiarity with our system. Obviously, he’s played a long time in this league, but it is good that he was with [Nathaniel] Hackett two years ago, in New York, and so it’s not foreign to him.”

After a field-goal period, Love connected with Matthew Golden on back-to-back plays. The second of those completions came as safety Evan Williams came free on a blitz.

“There’s a lot of opportunity out there for him to take,” LaFleur said of Golden. “Although the season didn’t end the way we wanted to for as a football team, I thought that was his best performance just (with) the play style that we’re looking for him. I thought he showed a lot of competitiveness. That touchdown he had in Chicago, it was pretty spectacular. So, I think you got a glimpse of what he’s capable of becoming on a consistent basis.”

Bo Melton made a nice catch over the middle. The Packers are listing him as a cornerback but he spent the day at receiver, even with three cornerbacks (Benjamin St-Juste, Kamal Hadde and Domani Jackson) out of the lineup.. The state of the two depth charts might mean Melton’s new home will be his old home.

Taylor hit undrafted rookie tight end R.J. Maryland in the flat for a nice gain. Maryland is a bit undersized but he’s got excellent speed with a 4.51 in the 40. That was evident in turning a 0-yard pass into a gain of maybe 10.

With Brenton Cox applying the pressure, Taylor’s downfield shot was almost intercepted by undrafted rookie safety Murvin Kenion.

Receiver Brenden Rice showed some strong hands to hang onto a pass at the sideline against Shemar Barthlomew. Rice is the son of Jerry Rice.

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