'Struggling' Cade York vows to be better for start of Browns regular season

Aug. 26—For about 10 minutes on Aug. 26, it seemed the dark cloud hovering over Cade York had blown away. But now that cloud is darker than ever.

York kicked a 40-yard field goal with 4:19 to play to move the Browns ahead of the Chiefs, 32-30, at Arrowhead Stadium in the final preseason game of 2023. The kick was worth much more than three points the way preseason has gone for him.

But then, once again, York failed in the clutch. A 43-yard field goal attempt with 57 seconds to play and the Browns trailing, 33-32, was partially blocked. The kick seemed to be going to the left when Chiefs defensive tackle Phil Hoskins deflected it.

"I saw it not go through the uprights," York told reporters after the game. "That's all I saw."

York badly missed his first attempt on an extra point wide left after Juan Thornhill scored a touchdown on a 34-yard interception return in the first quarter. The Chiefs were called for a running into the kicker penalty. The penalty appeared to occur on York's follow through and not affect the kick. York was shaken up on the play and limped off the field with a shin injury.

It was a terrible start for the second-year kicker after missing two field goal attempts in the final two minutes with a chance to beat the Eagles on Aug. 18. He also missed a field goal attempt in the Hall of Fame game and one against the Commanders.

York shook off the injury and was three-for-three on PATs before the go-ahead field goal to make it 32-30. He would not use the shin injury as an excuse for the blocked kick.

"It ended up being fine," he said. "It was just scary when it happened. I ended up kicking through it."

York said he doesn't want any pats on the back or words of encouragement from coaches or teammates.

"I hate pity," York said. "Pity pisses me off. I want to be a weapon. I know how good I am. That's been the most frustrating thing the last month. I'm struggling with that.

"Real games start soon. I want to take a running start into the season and just start coming through all the time."

The blocked kick puts more pressure on the Browns to resolve their kicking issues before the season opener Sept. 10 against the Bengals.

"I'll talk to all the players," head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters after the game. "Certainly, I'll talk to Cade. He wants to make it. He wants to come through with his team. That's why he works so hard every day in practice."

All NFL rosters must be trimmed to 53 by 4 p.m. Aug. 29. General manager Andrew Berry appeared on the television broadcast of the game with the Chiefs and expressed strong support for York. But that was before the blocked kick. Berry owes it to the other players on the team to at least look at the waiver wire for another kicker.