Cade York creating preseason quandary for Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns | Takeaways

CLEVELAND — It's the ultimate preseason quandary for Kevin Stefanski. It's the kind that could ultimately swing the Browns' season.

However, despite second-year kicker Cade York being 0-for-2 on field goal in two preseason games, the Browns coach said he feels as strongly about him as he did the day they drafted him in the fourth round last year.

"I think Cade is working his craft like all young players do," Stefanski said after the Browns' 17-15 loss to the Washington Commanders Friday night. "So very confident in him."

Twice in two preseason games, Stefanski has sent Cade York out to try 45-yarrd-plus field goals. Both times, his second-year kicker has missed them wide right.

In the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, York's 49-yarder seem to have the trajectory. About halfway to the uprights, though, it made a hard hook right and went wide.

OK, one missed kick. No big deal.

It became a much bigger deal on Friday when he missed a 46-yard field goal the same direction to start the third quarter. Stefanski said it's not time to panic yet about York, though.

"I think Cade's going to, like every young player, going to continue to learn and grow from all these experiences," Stefanski said.

York was one of the first Browns players to leave the locker room after the game.

The quandary, though, for the Browns is trying to balance the fact it's just two preseason kicks with the struggles York dealt with as a highly touted rookie a year ago. The LSU product came into the league almost immediately proclaimed as the long-awaited answer to the kicking problems that have plagued the Browns since Phil Dawson left in 2013.

York only amplified those in his regular-season debut at Carolina, when he nailed a 58-yarder with eight seconds remaining to win the game. He became the first rookie to win AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in Week 1.

The remainder of his rookie season, however, was a series of ups and downs. He finished 24 of 32 on field goals overall, but had multiple high-profile misses over the course of the season to create a kernel of doubt in the back of some people's minds.

The kind of kernel that can grow into a major concern with each subsequent missed (meaningless) preseason kick.

Za'Darius Smith, defensive line provides a tease to what it will look like

Myles Garrett didn't play Friday night. Once the 70-minute weather delay hit before the start of the game, he didn't even keep on his uniform.

The Browns All-Pro defensive end's Pro Bowl counterpart, Za'Darius Smith, did play. He didn't play a lot, but he did play.

In the couple of series Smith did play, he showed why there's an excitement to what the Browns defensive front can do when fully functional. Specifically, it came on the play on which Washington right tackle Andrew Wylie held Smith — giving the Browns a 2-0 lead on a safety — to prevent him from burying quarterback Sam Howell in the end zone.

"Well, I got held, but the call was to where I had a two-way goal, so I could go inside," Smith said. "So the tackle oversetted me, not just one inside. I had a chance to see the quarterback — wish I could have got 'im — but the holding call got us the safety as well. Wish we could have had a sack with that."

Smith wasn't credited with any stats, at least none that appeared on the official stats sheet. However, his presence by itself was enough to cause havoc.

What the Browns are really anxious to see is what happens with Garrett is added to the equation.

"From the whole defense, you're going to see a defense that runs to the ball, have fun with each other and we attack," said Ogbo Okoronkwo, who started at right defensive end in Garrett's place. "We attack first. We shoot first and ask questions later."

The Browns starting defense, minus Garrett, plus safety Grant Delpit and cornerbacks Greg Newsome II and Denzel Ward, did not allow a point to Washington. The backups had fully taken over by the time Howell gave the Commanders a 7-2 lead with a touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson on their third series.

Ronnie Hickman making a case to stick with Browns safeties

The safety spot, at least the top three spots, are set for the Browns. However, undrafted rookie Ronnie Hickman out of Ohio State is making a case to be the fourth.

“Luckily, I walked into a room with a lot of veterans, so just trying to be a sponge to those guys and learn as much as I can," Hickman said of learning from Juan Thornhill, Rodney McLeod and Delpit.

Hickman twice bailed out the Browns after their offense put them in bad field position with turnovers. Both times, he came up with lunging interceptions inside the Cleveland 10 to turn things away.

The first came after Washington was set up at the Browns 32 when Joshua Dobbs threw an interception. The next play, Hickman stepped in front of a pass and stole it from a Commanders receiver with eight seconds left in the first half.

The second one came after Washington recovered a Hassan Hall fumble at the Browns 34. On the sixth play of the drive, Hickman again lunged to take the ball away from a receiver.

David Bell, Austin Watkins give receiving corps some life

Amari Cooper was never going to play Friday, it seems. Many of the Browns' other top-line receivers only played minimal minutes. That opened the door for some younger receivers, such as David Bell and Austin Watkins Jr.

The fourth quarter was all about those two taking advantage of opportunities. Watkins finished with six catches on eight targets for 71 yards, although he couldn't quite come up with Kellen Mond's two-point conversion pass that would have tied it.

Bell, meanwhile, had three catches for 33 yards. One of those was a 7-yard touchdown in the third quarter from Dorian Thompson-Robinson to make it 17-9, while the other two picked up first downs on the Browns' final drive to try to tie the score.

"It felt great," Bell said. "It was a lot of hard work and preparation just to get to that point. Definitely it was needed to boost the team just to get some points up on the board."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cade York creating preseason quandary for Kevin Stefanski: Takeaways