Browns kicker Cade York grew up, special teams coach says

On Dec 29, 2022

Cleveland Browns place kicker Cade York (3) kicks a 30-yard field goal during the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

BEREA — Cade York missed a field goal in pregame warm-ups Saturday, but the Browns rookie kicker kept his cool amid a minus-16 windchill.

The practice session translated into York rebounding from a rough outing the previous game and making both of his kicks — a 30-yard field goal and an extra point — Saturday during a 17-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints in Cleveland’s second-coldest home game in franchise history.

“It wasn’t too big for him,” Browns special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said Thursday. “I saw him grow up right before my very eyes on Saturday afternoon during pregame. I loved the way he approached that game.”

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Priefer explained earlier in the season York had been too hard on himself for misses in pregame warm-ups. He proved to be more composed this past weekend when a practice kick toward the Dawg Pound in FirstEnergy Stadium went awry in high winds.

“He hit a really good ball, and it just kind of faded right or faded left — I can’t remember which way it went,” Priefer said. “He kind of looked back and smiled, and he goes, ‘I hit a good ball.’ I said, ‘That is all you can do.’

“When [former Browns kicker] Phil [Dawson] talked to him back after he was drafted, Phil said that into the Dawg Pound, you just have to hit a true ball. When you approach it that way, you have more chances of making it than you do missing it because you never know what you’re going to get down there at that end of the stadium. I saw him approach it that way with a great attitude and a great mindset. He didn’t freak out because he missed one in pregame. He just went out and nailed the next one.”

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Asked about being able to shake off the pregame miss, York said, “When it’s zero degrees or whatever it was and it’s super windy, not everything’s going to go your way.”

York didn’t handle wintry weather on Cleveland’s lakefront as well the previous week in a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens. He made field goals of 47 and 23 yards but missed from 38 and 46 yards.