PITTSBURGH – When kicking in your first NFL game, it's not a bad thing to have a long snapper who played his entire college career in that very stadium.
That was a benefit afforded to Packers rookie Trey Smack during Thursday's preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium, the same venue in which Green Bay long snapper and University of Pittsburgh alum Cal Adomitis played for four years.
While the Packers dropped the opener 28-9, quarterback Jordan Love called Smack "the highlight of the night" after he converted all of his field-goal attempts from 37, 58, and 38 yards to get Green Bay on the board.
Smack even aced an additional 58-yarder in the first quarter that was negated by a Pittsburgh penalty, allowing the Packers to continue their first offensive possession.
"Cal's played at Pitt and he was just there this past offseason, so I talked to him about it a bit," Smack said. "Cal and Dan (Whelan) do a great job of getting the ball down long enough so I can see it. From there, it's on me."
A sixth-round pick out of Florida, Smack battled topsy-turvy conditions at Nitschke Field during the first two weeks of training camp but appeared to find his groove last Friday inside Lambeau Field during Family Night.
After going 6-of-7 during that practice and consulting with Packers Hall of Fame kicker Ryan Longwell this past week, Smack kept building momentum in Pittsburgh. When summoned for a 58-yarder on the Packers' opening drive, Smack emphatically split the uprights before a flag was thrown.
The officials called former Packers defensive lineman Dean Lowry for roughing the snapper, resulting in a 15-yard penalty and new set of downs. The Packers gained six more yards before sending Smack back out for a 37-yard attempt he cleared easily.
As luck would have it, Smack wound up kicking another 58-yarder as time expired in the first half to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 7-6 at the break.
"I think it'll build some confidence," Smack said. "Every day's a new day. You gotta figure out what kind of ball you're gonna hit that day."
The Packers traded up to draft Smack in the sixth round earlier this year with the hope he could help solve the kicking issues that have lingered since all-time leading scorer Mason Crosby's final season in Green Bay in 2022.
Thursday was a promising step, though Smack wasn't taking any victory laps. His attention is turned to next Friday's preseason game in Denver.
"I don't really try to feel relief in this kind of business because we always have next week," Smack said. "We gotta play next week. My mind's already switched to the Broncos."
Short night for starting defense: While defensive schemes are often basic in the preseason, new coordinator Jonathan Gannon still displayed the same aggression in Pittsburgh that he's shown in practice.
Case in point, Gannon deployed linebacker Zaire Franklin on an A-gap blitz that resulted in an 8-yard sack of quarterback Mason Rudolph on the Steelers' second offensive play.
Rudolph hit Germie Bernard on an underneath pass on third-and-14 that safety Xavier McKinney covered and the first-team defense's day was over after three plays.
"We made it a point of emphasis to put our effort on tape and our physicality on tape and we came out fast," defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness said. "We all knew this is kind of the reality of the preseason. If we get a three-and-out, we could possibly be hanging the pads up for the rest of the day.
"We all came out hot. We got that three-and-out early, which was nice. I'm just proud of the guys."
Edge rusher Brenton Cox Jr. then opened the next series with a 9-yard sack of Rudolph for a loss after bull-rushing through Dylan Cook. In the second quarter, Green Bay notched its third sack after Kitan Oladapo chased down Will Howard for a sack off a corner blitz.
"I felt like we got after them today," Cox said. "Everybody was hyped to get out there and play somebody else. It was a fun day."
A year in the making: Thursday night held special meaning for MarShawn Lloyd, who was playing in his first NFL game since last year's preseason contest in Indianapolis.
After injuries derailed his first two NFL seasons, the Packers running back played the first two series against the Steelers, rushing four times for 13 yards in his first in-game action since last August.
"It felt really good honestly just getting hit," Lloyd said. "I knew about the defense the Steelers had so it was good to go against a team like that in your first hit in like two years. It's cool. I enjoyed every bit of it."
Lloyd has seen extensive reps in practice with the first-team offense while Josh Jacobs (groin) and Chris Brooks (hamstring) have missed time with injury.
But finally playing in an actual game hit differently.
"Emotions were high," said Lloyd. "I was ready to go. It was fun. I was juiced up. I was listening to music. I was in it. I was in the zone. It was fun."
Big stand: The Packers' second-team defense showed grit on a big red-zone stop at the start of the second quarter.
It began when rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse made an open-field tackle on Lew Nichols to prevent a touchdown on second-and-goal from the Green Bay 9.
Safety Murvin Kenion III broke up a third-and-goal pass to Bernard before fellow safety Mark Perry tackled Pat Freiermuth a yard shy of the goal line for the turnover on downs.
"When the opportunity came, just be able to get a guy down and let us see another play," said Cisse, who played the entire first half.
"Mark made a great play on the out and it's my job down there to be firm, allow him to work over the top and make a play. That's what I pride myself on is taking the stress and making sure everybody else can make plays or play free."
McCord's day: Competing for the Packers' third-string quarterback job, Kyle McCord led Green Bay on a six-play, 35-yard scoring drive in the final 38 seconds of the first half.
The 2025 seventh-round pick hit three quick for 27 yards to move the ball to the Pittsburgh 48 with 12 seconds left and no timeouts.
Aware of the situation, Isaiah Neyor caught a quick 8-yard pass, and the offense was able to spike the ball with 1 second left to set up Smack's 58-yarder before halftime.
"In the NFL, that's what it's all about," said McCord, who completed 12-of-16 passes for 102 yards. "I think we had 12 seconds left and telling the guys in the huddle, if we get a completion, we gotta get on the ball and spike it. Twelve seconds is really kind of the borderline of being able to do that. I thought that was a really good job by everybody."
