Green Bay Packers kicker Trey Smack is currently 8-for-13 on field goal attempts to start training camp, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. Before camp began, the Packers released kickers Lucas Havrisik and Lenny Krieg, allowing Smack to try to win the kicking job for the upcoming season without any competition.
The Packers have held kicking periods in two out of their four practices so far. On the first day, Sunday, Smack was 3/5 with misses from 39 yards and 45 yards, both wide left. On Monday, Smack was reportedly wide right from distances of 33 yards and 55 yards, and hit the left upright on a 52-yard attempt.
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However, Smack finished practice on a high note, connecting a 51-yarder to end a two-minute drill.
Green Bay drafted Smack in the sixth round and released veteran kicker Brandon McManus less than two weeks later. Smack was the consensus top-rated kicker in the 2026 draft class after a solid career at Florida, where he made 83 percent of career field goal attempts over three seasons.
The Packers have been unsuccessful in finding a long-term answer at kicker since the departure of Mason Crosby following the 2022 season, cycling through Anders Carlson, Brayden Narveson, and McManus.
The team hopes that Smack is the answer. General manager Brian Gutekunst expressed confidence in the rookie kicker before the start of camp.
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“Obviously, we really like Trey,” said Gutekunst. “It wasn’t something we went into the draft last year saying, ‘hey we’re going to target a kicker and try to draft a kicker’, but he was the highest-ranked guy on board when that fell, and so, we felt that he has the chance to be a very, very good kicker in this league and be one of those championship-level kickers. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have taken him.”
Gutekunst also talked about trying to practice patience when dealing with a young kicker and the importance of making your field goal attempts in the postseason.
“I’d like to think I’m going to have more patience than I’ve had,” he said. “It’s interesting, since the last kicker we had here with Mason, who was really consistent for us, in the regular season we’ve been at a higher percentage than Mason was with all of the different kickers that we’ve had. It’s just the playoffs; that’s where we’ve really struggled…So I’d like to have some patience here, but at the end of the day, any player, if he’s costing us to win football games, we’re going to have to look at that. We really have a lot of confidence in Trey, and what he’s going to be able to do, but he is a rookie kicker, and he’s got a lot to learn and to earn before he gets there.”
It’s still early, and there’s a lot of time left before the Packers have to decide on a kicker. Smack has yet to kick in the preseason or on Family Night, which will expose him to kicking in a live-game setting and a packed stadium. You do have to wonder, though, how long before Gutekunst brings in another leg if misses continue to be a theme for Smack.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers rookie kicker Trey Smack struggling to start training camp
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