Browns second-year, fourth-round kicker Cade York started the night well on Thursday, making three field goals on three attempts. Things didn’t end well, however.
A pair of successful 43-yard attempts and a 27-yarder became forgotten once York missed a pair of potential game-winning field goals with two minutes to play in Philadelphia.
The first one, from 47 yards, went wide right. The second, from five yards closer after a penalty on the Eagles, went wide left.
At the end of the game, the Browns tried to get in position for another opportunity for York. He wanted that to happen badly.
“So badly,” York told reporters after the 18-18 outcome. “Definitely disappointed for that to happen and wanted a shot to get back out there and do something from a long distance.”
Will the misses impact the rookie’s confidence?
“Confidence is never gonna be an issue for me,” York said. “I don’t think the preseason so far is a good indication of how I’ve been kicking so far.”
He added that, in practice, he has missed only one kick out of 40 to 45 tries.
Coach Kevin Stefanski seemed to be equally unfazed by the situation.
“I think it’s preseason, so everyone is working through the preseason,” Stefanski told reporters. “And certainly, as you know Cade wants to make those so that we can finish as a team. So, we can go get that [win]. But he’s like any young player. He’s like any player on our roster. It’s preseason, so he’s got to continue to work through it. . . . You’re constantly trying to perfect your craft. Obviously making the first three is great, and then he knows he wants to make that last one. So, I think that’s something he’ll continue to work through.”
There was a question as to whether York’s plant leg slipped on the second miss. Stefanski didn’t know, and York thought he simply overcompensated after missing the first one to the right.
York has the right attitude. He needs to forget about the last kick and focus on the next one. Or the last kick — as it apparently did last night — will mess with the next one. Which could mess with the next one. And so on until the kicker gets the boot.
