Winners and Losers From Packers’ Preseason Loss at Steelers

The Green Bay Packers took to the field for the first time in 2026 after a disappointing finish to the 2025 season.

Coach Matt LaFleur played his starters for one series before getting most of them off the field to give way to the younger players on the roster. That’s what preseason games are for in the modern era. Starters play less than ever, if at all.

They lost on the scoreboard, a 28-9 drubbing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The scoreboard is irrelevant. They got out of the game without any of their top players being lost to an injury. That’s the biggest win of the night.

Outside of that? Their biggest win came from what was arguably the biggest reason for their demise last season.

More on that, and the rest of our winners and losers from Green Bay’s preseason opener.

Winner: K Trey Smack

Green Bay’s kicking situation was a disaster in 2025. After being nearly automatic in his first season with the team, Brandon McManus struggled through injuries for much of last season before getting healthy and getting hot down the stretch. However, in the playoff loss at Chicago, he missed three kicks, leaving what was in essence a touchdown on the scoreboard in a game the Packers lost by four.

That led the Packers to use two seventh-round picks to move up into the sixth round to select Trey Smack to compete with McManus.

The competition never started, which became a theme. All challengers have been jettisoned to give Smack the runway to be the team’s kicker. Practice has been a mixed bag at this point for Smack, but the first half of his preseason debut could not have gone better.

Officially, Smack was 2-for-2 in the first half. His first kick was from 37 yards to cap the opening possession, but that only tells part of the story. Smack initially made a kick from 57 yards, but it was deleted from the scoreboard when the Steelers were flagged for roughing the snapper.

“Cam was telling me no, I told him yes,” LaFleur said of the conversation with special teams coordinator Cam Achord before the 57-yarder.

Later, Smack got a chance from 50-plus again when Kyle McCord led a drive at the end of the first half to get them into Smack’s range. He booted a 58-yarder, pointing in the air in celebration before the ball reached the uprights.

Smack added another short field goal in the second half to account for all nine of Green Bay’s points.

The kicking game has been a bugaboo for the Packers since Mason Crosby was shown the door in favor of Anders Carlson in 2023.

Since 2021, the Packers have either missed a kick or had one blocked in all of their playoff games. Smack’s debut was not a guarantee he’ll make the kicks the Packers ask him to make in the postseason, but it’s a good start.

Winner: Edge Lukas Van Ness

Lukas Van Ness is entering what is a huge year for him. The Packers need him, and Van Ness needs to perform.

Van Ness and the Packers’ starting defense only played in one series, but Van Ness made it count. He initially beat Pittsburgh’s starting left tackle, Troy Fautanu, to force Mason Rudolph to move off his spot. Thanks to some interior pressure, Van Ness was able to recover from a minor slip and finish the play with a sack.

Again, it’s just one play, but the Packers need Van Ness to continue to be a disruptive force, especially with Micah Parsons poised to miss the start of the season.

Winner: Edge Brenton Cox

Brenton Cox might be the best pass rusher the Packers have on the edge without Micah Parsons. He’s been productive whenever he’s been given an opportunity. He’s just been injured or buried on the depth chart.

So far this year, he’s neither of those things, but he’s still disruptive. After Van Ness ruined Pittsburgh’s first drive with a sack, Cox started Pittsburgh’s second series off by destroying the right tackle to get into Rudolph’s lap again.

For a team that is aching for a pass rush without Parsons, they’ll need contributions from everyone else on the roster. Cox should have plenty of chances to prove himself.

Winner: OL John Williams

Who is the backup left tackle? Does anybody know at this point? The Packers might not even know. They’ve moved Anthony Belton back to right tackle with Zach Bako-Bewele taking limited reps in team drills (and not suiting up against Pittsburgh).

Would Belton move to left tackle if Jordan Morgan were to have to miss time with an injury? We likely won’t know until it happens but, on Thursday night, it was John Williams who took over protecting the quarterback’s blind side when Morgan went to the bench.

Williams has gone from a relative unknown coming into camp after missing all of his rookie season following back surgery to surpassing some contributors from 2025 on the depth chart.

Loser: CB Keisean Nixon

Is Keisean Nixon fighting for his job in the starting lineup? It sure feels that way with the rotation that’s taken place at cornerback since Nixon’s tough showing at Family Night, largely against Matthew Golden.

Based on his effort level in the first half, it’d be hard to tell if he knows he’s fighting for his job. Nixon’s effort on a tackle on rookie receiver Germie Bernard was questionable, at best. Nixon and Kitan Oladapo turned a marginal gain into a first down.

Physical errors like a missed tackle from Oladapo are going to happen. Nixon did not wrap up to secure the tackle and did not try to strip the ball; he simply bounced off his prey on the play.

There are simply too many plays that look like that when Nixon is in the lineup. It’d be easy to say that perhaps Nixon was trying to protect himself, understanding that Thursday’s game was not going to make or break their season, but it has happened when the stakes were at their highest.

In last year’s wild-card loss to the Bears, Nixon appeared to pull up on the goal line on a touchdown run by running back D’Andre Swift. The stakes don’t seem to dictate the effort, and he has not made enough plays on the ball to justify being a poor tackler, as well.

It will be interesting to see how the cornerback rotation works after the preseason opener considering his logical replacement, Benjamin St. Juste, was playing deep into the third quarter, as well.

Furthermore, both backup options in the slot, Oladapo and Jaylin Simpson, struggled, as well. Nixon broke into Green Bay’s defense as a slot corner. Perhaps that positional versatility will be part of his saving grace.

Loser: OL Darian Kinnard

Darian Kinnard became a vital piece to Green Bay’s offensive line depth after being acquired from the Eagles at the end of training camp last year. Kinnard was the Packers’ swingman at multiple positions, often being the first man they called upon in the event of an injury.

On Thursday night, Kinnard was playing deep into the fourth quarter with at least seven players seeing action before him. That doesn’t include left guard Aaron Banks or right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele, who didn’t play. Kinnard is going to need to have a big rebound late in the summer to secure a roster spot.

Kinnard spent the week as the No. 2 right guard behind Jacob Monk, and that was his role against the Steelers. He missed the end of the game with an injury.

Loser: CB Jaylin Simpson

Simpson was having an excellent camp with some momentum working in his direction leading into the preseason opener. Simpson had a 99-yard pick-six to finish off Monday’s practice.

On Thursday, he was picked on six times either by the Steelers’ quarterbacks or officials. Simpson slipped and fell on a slant route to Kaden Wetjen that went for 74 yards and almost resulted in a touchdown. He was beaten later and flagged for pass interference that gave the Steelers another first down. He gave up a touchdown on a pick play, as well.

With the cornerback group struggling, and the Packers searching for a backup option in the slot, Simpson had a golden opportunity in front of him. Unfortunately for him, it slipped through his fingertips. Fortunately for him, on the other hand, MJ Devonshire and Shemar Bartholomew might have been worse.

Loser: QB Kyron Drones

Drones is locked in a battle for the third quarterback job with Kyle McCord. If this were a heavyweight fight, McCord may have won by knockout with just one preseason performance.

McCord finished the night 12-for-16 for 102 yards and led an impressive 2-minute drive that ended with a Trey Smack field goal.

Drones had more sacks taken (three) than passes attempted (one). Drones has talent, but it’s clear he’s going to take some time to get used to the NFL game. That may have to happen outside of Green Bay, as McCord should be the clear leader in the clubhouse at this point.

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