BEREA: Cody Parkey could have been kicked to the curb, but the Browns stood by him after his disastrous debut with them.
The kicker made just 3-of-6 field goals Sunday in a 30-24 overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins. His successful attempts were from 46, 48 and 38 yards. His misses were from 41, 42 and 46 yards. The miss from 46 yards came with no time left in regulation. The Browns would have won 27-24 if it hadn’t gone wide left.
Still, coach Hue Jackson and Parkey’s new teammates defended him. The team didn’t find a replacement right away, either.
Now Parkey is confident he’ll bounce back Sunday on the road against Washington (1-2) and reward the Browns (0-3) for their faith in him.
“I haven’t even been here a week yet, but I can tell this team’s going up,” Parkey said Thursday. “We’re going to get on a good run here. I can feel it. I’m going to do my best to help them. ... It’s really, really cool how all these guys backed me, and coach especially.”
Parkey entered his first game with the Browns in a tough spot. After Patrick Murray suffered a left knee injury in Friday’s walk-through practice, the Browns signed Parkey on Saturday. He didn’t get to practice field goals with long snapper Charley Hughlett and holder Britton Colquitt until pregame warm-ups at Hard Rock Stadium. He took 20-25 practice kicks.
“Every snapper and holder have their own rhythm,” Parkey explained. “Everybody’s used to something different. So whether it’s quicker or slower, you get used to something from doing it so long. So when you get a new snapper and holder, you have to adjust.
“I didn’t have that opportunity to get [adjusted] a couple days before but tried to make the best of it. But these last couple days, I’ve been getting used to their rhythm and they’ve been helping me out as well. It’s just been good to get in sync.”
Parkey, 24, knows how to succeed in the NFL.
In 2014, he made the Pro Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles and set the NFL rookie scoring record with 150 points (32-of-36 on field goals and 54-of-54 on extra-point kicks). His cleats from the record-setting season are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
So Parkey, who missed most of last season with a groin injury, is confident he can recover.
“I don’t really worry about it honestly,” he said. “You’re going to miss kicks. It is what it is. Obviously you don’t want to miss three in one day. You don’t want to miss three in a season. You try to go perfect. But I got the misses out of the way now, so now all I have to focus on is making the kicks, going out there and doing what I do, doing what I did the Pro Bowl year, doing what I’ve done consistently since forever.”
Identity crisis
Jackson revealed a lack of continuity at quarterback has prevented him from employing the offense he envisions.
“We normally don’t huddle,” Jackson said. “I don’t know that we have truly had one snap of the offense that I envision for our football team because we have been playing with different quarterbacks as we have gone through this. I think you guys all know that from week to week, we have had to do what we have had to do to put an offense out there.”
Quarterbacks Robert Griffin III (fractured left shoulder) and Josh McCown (fractured left collarbone) suffered injuries in the first two games, forcing rookie Cody Kessler into action this past weekend. Kessler will make his second consecutive start Sunday.
Why does Jackson want to run a no-huddle offense?
“Because I think it gives us an advantage,” he said. “I think it puts the defense on their heels a little bit and makes the defensive coordinator play in a different style and a different fashion, but we haven’t been able to do that thus far.”
Jackson said he doesn’t need a veteran quarterback to execute a no-huddle offense. He just needs some continuity in the lineup.
Moving parts
If the Browns choose to bench offensive lineman Alvin Bailey after he was arrested early Monday morning in North Royalton, they would likely start Austin Reiter at center and move John Greco back to his usual spot at right guard.
Bailey started at right guard this past weekend because Greco moved from right guard to center with Cameron Erving (bruised lung) sidelined.
Greco said he practiced at guard Thursday and Reiter has looked great.
“We haven’t had any hiccups this week,” Greco said, “so hopefully we can carry that over to the game.”
The Browns signed Reiter off Washington’s practice squad last week, and now he could make his first NFL regular-season start against his former team.
“He has done a good job since he has been here,” Jackson said. “I haven’t made any decisions just exactly which way we are going [with the O-line], but there is a chance he could play.”
Reiter said he’s itching for his first real NFL action.
“The guys have really helped me here, and if I get that opportunity, I know I’m ready,” he said. “I know they have a lot of confidence in me since I’ve been here. I know it’s been a short time, but I think I’ve picked up everything pretty well.”
Police cited Bailey for operating a vehicle impaired, speeding, driving an unsafe vehicle (cracked windshield), drug abuse, drug paraphernalia and failure to comply. His court date was pushed back from Thursday to 9 a.m. Oct. 6 after his attorney requested a continuance.
Injury updates
• Rookie tight end Seth DeValve suffered a left knee injury during practice and hobbled through the locker room on a single crutch.
• Safety Ibraheim Campbell (hamstring) returned to practice. He was limited.
• Running back Isaiah Crowell (knee) practiced fully after being limited Wednesday.
• Cornerback Joe Haden (groin) was limited in practice for the second day in a row. Asked if all signs are pointing to Haden playing Sunday, Jackson said, “He was out there running around today, so we will see where he is this weekend. But I feel good about it. I really do.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.