The Browns did not bring in any kickers for tryouts on Sept. 9, two days after a pair of missed kicks by Andre Szmyt cost them in a season-opening loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
The NFL’s official 5 p.m. transaction report had no tryouts listed for the Browns. The only transactions involved their practice squad, where they signed defensive tackle Ralph Holley, while offensive lineman Cole Strange signed with the Miami Dolphins and running back Trayveon Williams had his contract terminated.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski never definitively said the team was either going to bring in a kicker or not. He was asked about it both immediately after the game, then again on a day-after Zoom call.
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“Obviously, Andre (Szymt) knows we trust him, knows that he’s got to come through for us in those moments,” Stefanski said Sept. 8, the day after the loss. “I thought he had a really good warm up. Banged a couple early in the game and, you know, missed those two at the end and 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.”
The lack of tryouts would seem to favor Szmyt to continue to be the Browns’ kicker, at least when they head to Baltimore to face the Ravens Sept. 14. Szmyt was making his NFL regular-season debut for Cleveland against Cincinnati, where he made both his first point-after kick and first field goal try of the day.
However, Szmyt missed a third-quarter PAT after a Cedric Tillman touchdown catch that allowed the Bengals to take a 17-16 lead when they kicked a 35-yard field goal later in the quarter. He then missed a 36-yard field goal with 2:22 that would’ve given the Browns the lead.
“I rushed through my approached and pushed the ball,” Szymt said after the game. “I’ve got to do better. I expect better of myself. Just forget about it and move onto next week.”
Szmyt did appear to have some of the team’s biggest names offering up support. Both quarterback Joe Flacco and defensive end Myles Garrett refused to throw him under the bus after the game.
“There’s going to be situations like this again and he’s going to make those kicks and we’re going to be better for it,” Garrett said after the game. “We’re going to win those games. So there’s no more scrutiny on him than the rest of us. We didn’t have to be in that position. We could have came out faster on defense and picked it up earlier. It’s a team game and we all to play together.”
Szmyt was the Lou Groza Award winner as a freshman at Syracuse University in 2018. After college, he spent one offseason with his hometown Chicago Bears but didn’t makr their training camp roster.
After kicking for the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks in 2024, Szmyt spent one week on the Browns’ practice squad in late December. He re-signed with Cleveland in the offseason and spent all of the offseason program and training camp in a competition with veteran Dustin Hopkins.
Szmyt made all three of his preseason field goals, including a game-winning 37-yard kick as time expired in the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams. He made his only preseason PAT try.
The Browns released Hopkins on Aug. 26 when the roster had to be cut down to it initial 53-man limit.
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: No kickers in for tryouts for Browns 2 days after Andre Szmyt’s tough opener vs. Bengals
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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