Packers Q&A with Tremon Smith

Packer: Tremon Smith

Number: 27

Position: Cornerback

College: Central Arkansas

Draft: 2018, sixth round

Season: Second

Age: 23

Height/weight: 5-foot-11, 190 pounds.

Q: What has this week been like, having gone from being released by one of the top teams in the league and then joining one of the top teams in the league?

A: It’s a good feeling to come to a great organization like this with so much history behind it. Kansas City’s in my past now. Now it’s all about the Green Bay Packers.

Q: You’re a cornerback by trade and spent your rookie year there, then spent training camp on at running back and even receiver. So are you on defense here?

A: Yes, I’m on defense. Defense and special teams.

Q: Was that a challenge to switch sides of the ball?

A: Yeah, it was a challenge but I always step up to the challenge. I love taking challenges. I took it one day at a time, stayed positive and played to the best of my ability.

Q: You were fourth in the league in kickoff returns last year. What’s the secret to a good returner?

A: Trusting your teammates and hitting it full speed and trusting that they’re going to have their blocks. It’s hitting it full speed and running as fast as possible, and you can’t be scared, either. You can’t run scared; that’s when you get hit hard.

Q: Is it scary?

A: It’s scary but you can’t be scared.

Q: How do you get to that point?

A: You get used to it. My first few, I wasn’t scared but I was nervous. I was like, “These are grown men trying to come knock my head off every play.” Of course, I thought about it but, once I got the first one under my belt, it’s smoother now.

Q: Having changed positions, is having your speed sort of a blessing and a curse?

A: It’s good. It’s always a good thing. It’s always, the more you can do, you can stay around this league for a long time. If they go ask me to be a long snapper, I’ll try to be the best long snapper I can be. That’s been my mentality toward everything, no matter what position I’ve played. I feel like I can play any position. Of course, not offensive line or defensive line. I’d have to eat a lot.

Q: How did the move to running back in training camp happen?

A: It wasn’t just an overnight process. Coach (Andy) Reid had talked about it beforehand. I came in the next year and we were kind of loaded at DB — we had good DBs over there — so he asked me about offense. I was like, “Of course, whatever you want me to do.” The next day, it happened.

Q: How did someone with your talent end up at Central Arkansas?

A: I was a late qualifier. I didn’t qualify until the day before they sent the official scholarships out. I was supposed to go to Auburn and they ended up pulling the offer and wanted me to walk on. A lot of (FCS schools), like Jacksonville State, Central Arkansas, wanted me. I had one (FBS) offer to Middle Tennessee but I ended up going with Central Arkansas. The defensive coordinator was a guy from my hometown so we had the relationship already and it’s somewhere I felt comfortable moving off to.

Q: I’m guessing the NFL has always been your dream. When you end up playing at a lower tier of football in college, did you view that as a setback at the time?

A: I wouldn’t say it was a setback. I knew I had to work harder. You can make one play in a big game but you have to make 10 plays in a (FCS) game. I stayed positive through it all.

Q: And it worked out. You were drafted in the sixth round last year. What was that like?

A: It was surreal. I was able to spend it with my family. When I got that phone call, it was unreal. It’s unexplainable.

Q: What was it like playing with Patrick Mahomes?

A: That guy will wow you every day, really. He’s got those no-look passes, of course, and he’s throwing it off his back foot. He’s injured right now so he’s been babying that left foot, so he’s been throwing everything off his right foot. It don’t matter how he’s throwing it there, it’s going to get there and you can’t hand the ball off better than he throws it. He’s amazing.

Q: Aaron Rodgers can do those things, too.

A: Aaron Rodgers, of course I grew up watching him. I know he’s way more savvy. There’s nothing he hasn’t seen. I feel like it doesn’t get any better.

Q: How do you learn a playbook that the rest of these guys have been learning for months?

A: I ask a lot of questions, stay in extra meetings. Before I go to bed or after I eat, when I eat, I’m constantly studying. I won’t even turn on my television in the hotel so I can catch up.