HOUSTON, Texas — Things went from bad to worse for the Browns on a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown on Sunday by running back Dameon Pierce. The score cut the Browns’ lead to 14-7 early in the second quarter, which ended up being irrelevant in the grand scheme of a 36-22 Browns win.
The real problem was the Browns also lost kicker Dustin Hopkins on the play. Hopkins chased Pierce down the far sideline. He was making good time, too, but not enough to keep up with Pierce, and safety Adrian Amos knocked Hopkins to the ground at around the 25-yard line.
“It’s hard to turn effort off sometimes, and I guess if I’m in the game, I’m going to try my best, whatever play I’m doing,” Hopkins said, “and shoot, hopefully I can instill that in my son. But in this instance, maybe I should have shut it down five yards earlier or something when I knew he had the angle on me.”
Hopkins was injured on the play and went to the blue medical tent after. He was in and out of the tent a few times and, in between, tried some kicks into the net on the sideline. He was announced as questionable to return with a hamstring and ultimately did not return.
“Initially I thought maybe I can (go back in),” Hopkins said. “I think when something like that first happens, you’re kind of optimistic. I was like, maybe I can power through it or whatever. And then maybe as swelling set in or something, I went to go do it and it just wasn’t happening. It was like, yeah, it’s not going to work.”
When the Browns scored with 4:21 remaining in the second quarter, they went for two, a successful rush by backup quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
They also decided against kicking a 36-yard field goal with punter Corey Bojorquez at the end of the first half, instead allowing quarterback Joe Flacco to throw into the end zone with a 22-7 lead. His pass intended for Amari Cooper was intercepted by cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.
Bojorquez said the last time he kicked a field goal in a game was his junior year in high school.
“I don’t know exactly what their plan was,” Bojorquez said. “I told them if they needed me to do something, I’ll give it a shot.”
The Browns didn’t need to find out and were able to get away without needing to kick a field goal or an extra point attempt. Whatever their Plan B was for Sunday, we didn’t get to see it.
“We have options there,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “They are maybe not great options, so we could have done that, but I was trying to avoid that.”
We know one option was to have safety D’Anthony Bell kick off, which he did in the fourth quarter after Bojorquez kicked off in place of Hopkins after the injury. The CBS broadcast indicated Bojorquez may have been injured and defensive end Myles Garrett said the same. Neither Stefanski nor Bojorquez mentioned a possible injury after the game and no update was provided by the Browns.
After the game, Garrett offered to fill in for both.
“I’ll do what I have to, wherever they need me,” he said. “(Bojorquez) went down today as well, so if we need a punter, let’s just look at 95.”
It’s not clear yet if the Browns will need Garrett or someone else to handle the kicking. Stefanski said they’ll get an MRI and Hopkins wouldn’t speculate on his long-term outlook. It doesn’t help that they have a quick turnaround this week, hosting the Jets on Thursday night.
“See how my body responds,” Hopkins said. “I feel like soft tissues are so weird. Maybe I feel a lot better. Maybe I don’t. I have no clue.”
You can probably guess there aren’t a ton of options out there for a team in need of a kicker. The free agent list is a who’s who of uninspiring names, short of coaxing Robbie Gould out of retirement.
If you’re thinking about former Browns kicker Cade York, he was just placed on the practice squad/injured list by the Giants.
Another former Browns kicker, Zane Gonzalez, is a free agent. The Browns drafted Gonzalez in the seventh round in 2017 and waived him in 2018. He’s since kicked for Arizona and Carolina.
Whoever they sign won’t be nearly as impactful as Hopkins, whom Garrett called the best player on the team.
The 33-year-old, whom the Browns acquired the day before roster cuts from the Chargers, is 33-of-36 on field goals, including 8-of-8 from 50 yards or more. He’s 24-of-26 on extra points.
He made game-winning kicks against the 49ers, Ravens, Steelers and Bears, and made four field goals, including three of more than 50 yards, in the Browns’ 39-38 win over the Colts.
“Counting on him every single time we’ve been down the stretch, close games, he’s been absolutely fantastic and I know he’ll be back as soon as he can,” Garrett said. “He’s going to make this a priority to be back on the field, taking care of himself and recovering and when he’s back we’ll make the most out of it.”
Sunday aside, the Browns have been in more than their fair share of close games and, with the playoffs in sight, will need a reliable kicker in January if Hopkins is in danger of missing significant time.
“You don’t love to not have a dependable guy like Dustin,” Stefanski said. “We’ll see how it shakes out in the next 24 hours. I feel badly for him.”
