There’s a fine line between celebrating a rookie kicker who is a perfect 7-for-7 on field goals through his first two preseason games and understanding he’s got a long way to go before he’s reached the status of a reliable, battle-tested NFL kicker.
“He’s had two good games, but they’re only two games,” first-year special teams coordinator Cam Achord said Saturday. “I’m probably more the kind of, when you’re doing good, try to find something, than the other way. He’s had two good games, which is a credit to him, but it’s still a long way to go. Obviously, this week we’re going to get a chance to actually kick in the stadium we play in, so that’s going to be really good too. But I think anytime you’re looking at anything, whether it’s positive or negative, you’ve got to be even-keeled with it and take the good with the good for what it’s worth and the bad with the bad.”
There was plenty of bad when Trey Smack strolled into training camp as the only kicker on Green Bay’s roster. Heading into the team’s annual family night practice on Friday, Aug. 7, Smack was making just 61.5 percent of kicks in practice.
Then a switch suddenly flipped for the sixth-rounder out of Florida when he kicked in front of more than 60,000 fans at Lambeau Field. Smack went 6-for-7 on the night with makes from 33, 35, 38, 43, 45, and 47 yards, and his lone miss was a 51-yarder that sailed wide left. Since then, distance hasn’t been a problem for Smack.
He’s made three kicks from 50+ yards, and it would be four if the 58-yarder he drilled in the preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers hadn’t been negated by a penalty that gave the Packers a first down.
In warmups before the second preseason matchup with the Denver Broncos, Smack connected on a 63-yard field goal. Then toward the end of the second quarter, he split the uprights on a 59-yard attempt for a new career-long in the preseason.
Evidently, Achord’s proceed-with-caution approach has rubbed off on Smack. The rookie could be oozing with confidence right now, but he knows that the true test will be during the regular season, when points, wins, and losses actually matter.
“I feel good. I don’t want to get too high on it because I know I got to stay locked in in this business, and you can’t get complacent with yourself,” Smack said following his 4-for-4 night in Denver. “I’m just trying to improve every week.”
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers ST coordinator on rookie kicker Trey Smack’s success: ‘They’re only two games’
Reporting by Brandon Carwile, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brandon Carwile, Packers Wire | USA TODAY Network
