Browns coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t come out and say specifically that Andre Szmyt was going to remain the kicker for the Week 2 road game at the Baltimore Ravens. However, he expressed trust in the first-year kicker after two costly misses in the season opener.
“For me, I’m still focused on yesterday,” Stefanski said on a Zoom call with the media a day after a 17-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. “Obviously, Andre knows we trust him, knows that he’s gotta come through for us in those moments. I thought he had a really good warmup, banged a couple early in the game and missed those two kicks at the end. Those are kicks that we expect him to make, but I’m really just focused on that game, and we expect him to come through for us.”
Szmyt was making his NFL regular-season debut after the Browns elected to go with him over veteran Dustin Hopkins. After making his first two kicks in the first half, he missed both a point-after kick and a potential go-ahead 36-yard field goal in the second half.
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The PAT came after Joe Flacco’s 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Cedric Tillman gave the Browns a 16-14 lead with 7:20 remaining in the third quarter. That opened the door for the Bengals to take a 17-16 lead when Evan McPherson kicked a 35-yard field goal with 2:48 remaining in the third.
Szmyt had a moment of redemption in front of him with less than three minutes remaining in the game. However, he pushed the 36-yard field goal try wide right with 2:22 left.
“We will just keep coaching our guys up,” Stefanski said. “We’re looking for everybody just to do their job in every phase. But anywhere where we feel like we can do better, we’ll just keep coaching ’em up.”
Szmyt had previously kicked in the UFL with the St. Louis Battlehawks. The Syracuse University product had spent a week in 2024 on the Browns practice squad while Hopkins was going through his second-half struggles that season.
Stefanski reiterated a similar refrain to what he’s used on other personnel decisions, that it’s not just about the performance in the game.
“Listen, we trust our guys,” Stefanski said. “We get to watch our guys work, we get to watch them all offseason, all training camp, preseason, practices, games, all those things. So we trust our guys to come through for us. and I know a lot of credit and blame gets doled out after wins and losses, but this is a team game and we’ll own this one together as a loss.”
The Browns aren’t the only team in the upcoming matchup stinging from a one-point loss in which missed kicks played a role. The Ravens lost 41-40 to the Buffalo Bills hours after Cleveland’s defeat, and although Buffalo scored 16 points in the final 3:56 to rally for the win, a missed PAT by Tyler Loop opened the door for the Bills to win in regulation.
Loop did make two long field goals earlier in the game for Baltimore.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kevin Stefanski on Browns K Andre Szmyt: ‘We expect him to come through for us’
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
