Green Bay’s special teams have found a cleaner edge lately, and Cam Achord says the explanation starts with the work the Packers are putting in during the week.
After the Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 23-13 on Sunday night for their third straight win, the special teams coordinator pointed to a simple but important detail: tackling practice. Green Bay’s coverage units have been getting extra attention in that area, and Achord said the results have shown up on Sundays.
“Well, last time we said something, we went out there and missed a kick, you know?” Achord said. “So we got to start knocking on wood around here, you know?”
He said assistant special teams coach Cory Harkey and another staff member lead that work on “Thursday when we’re in pads.” The focus is on controlled contact and clean fundamentals, not just flying downhill.
“Those guys, they do a good job that we do some tackling stuff each week with our guys and focusing on tackling and everything and coming under control and making sure we’re not playing out of control,” Achord said. “And, you know, make sure you’re tackling near the leg, near the shoulder, keeping your head out of it, and staying with the proper leverage. And then you’re, you know, wrapping it.”
He called it a must in the kicking game, where defenders often have to close fast and finish in space.
“So it’s a point of emphasis, obviously,” Achord continued. “You know, you’ve got to be able to tackle in the open field. And it’s different than tackling on defense because you’re running full speed a lot of times on those reps.”
The Packers also leaned on the practice squad this week, elevating edge rusher Arron Mosby on Saturday. Achord said that kind of move reflects how much value can come from that group.
“Yeah, I think that’s what’s great about the practice squad is it’s not a 53-man roster anymore,” Achord said. “It’s a 70-man roster, you know, and those guys understand that each week you’re, you know, a sickness, an injury away from playing.”
From Achord’s perspective, Green Bay’s special teams setup is pretty standard. He said his six years in New England were the outlier.
“I was obviously in New England for six years, and we had several guys that were just dedicated to special teams,” Achord said. “So that was an anomaly.
I’d have 300-plus snaps for a season for a couple guys there. But this is probably about the norm.”
In Green Bay, the workload is spread out, not isolated to a handful of specialists.
“You try to balance it,” Achord said. “So if a guy plays, call it 50% on defense, you want him to play 50% in the kicking game, so he’s playing 100% of the snaps.”
There was also an update on kicker Trey Smack, who made field goals from 25, 44 and 29 yards against Dallas and accounted for nine of Green Bay’s 23 points. Achord said more game reps are part of what he needs.
“And it’s just the more reps you get in any environment, the better you’re going to improve,” Achord said. “And that’s anything we do, right? So the more kicks he gets in the stadium, the more kicks he gets in the wind, it’s just going to continue to get better.”
“He’s in a good head space, like we talked about,” Achord added. “He’s got the great mental makeup that we keep talking about, so I’m very pleased with him.”
Green Bay, now 4-2, heads to Detroit to play the Lions, who are 3-2, on Sunday. Kickoff at Ford Field is 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
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