The Green Bay Packers are sticking with Trey Smack, even after a rough stretch that’s put their kicking game under the microscope.
That matters because Green Bay’s bigger goals this season don’t leave much room for wasted points. The Packers moved on from Brandon McManus this summer and traded up to take Smack in the sixth round of this year’s NFL Draft, banking on the rookie to settle in and handle the job.
Instead, the early returns have been uneven. Smack now leads the league with eight missed kicks - five field goals and three extra points - and that total is the most for a Packers kicker through the first eight games of a season since Max Zendejas had nine in 1988.
Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers was another bumpy outing. Smack finished with three points after going 3-for-4 on his PATs.
For the season, he’s 11-for-16 on field goals, which works out to 68.8 percent and ranks 30th in the league, and 16-for-19 on extra points, good for 84.2 percent and 31st in the league. He has 49 points overall.
The miss that stood out came early. After Tucker Kraft put Green Bay up 6-3, Smack hooked a kick off the left upright in the first quarter, a “doink” that briefly gave Carolina a little life. It didn’t end up costing the Packers, though, because Josh Jacobs and Matthew Golden added two more touchdowns to keep Green Bay in control.
Even with the struggles, Matt LaFleur made it clear the Packers are not looking elsewhere right now.
“I think he’s done a lot of good things,” LaFleur said of Smack. “The thing I like about Trey is he’s shown to bounce back.
Never want to be in a bounce-back situation, but that’s football. You got to be able to be resilient and go out there and play the next play.
It started off bad, obviously, this last game missing a PAT, and then he responded.”
For now, the Packers are betting Smack can steady himself. The next few games will tell whether that faith pays off.
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