New Bengals kicker Cade York couldn’t have scripted it any better in a bid to revive his career in place of the injured Evan McPherson.
Except if it was against the Browns, but that comes in two weeks.
York returns to the city where he lives for his first game in stripes when the Bengals play in Dallas Monday night (8:15-Cincinnati’s Channel 9, ESPN) as he tries to extend his unbeaten streak with quarterback Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase to 16.
“Maybe I’ll have someone pack a bag for me to bring back so I’ll have some more clothes,” York said before Friday’s practice.
York, a freshman when Burrow and Chase led LSU to the national title, won Tuesday’s workout at Paycor Stadium directed by special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons. In his fifth tryout since Washington cut him after he missed two kicks in the opener, York showed the same leg that impressed Simmons when he ran the kicking portion of the NFL’s 2022 scouting combine.
“Power. He’s got great leg strength. The ball pops off his foot,” Simmons said. “He has to be a more consistent ball striker. Just get him to get it in the right direction. He’s got an opportunity here to put his career back on track.”
York, 23, had the best moment of his career in his first game after Cleveland made him a fourth-round pick in 2022. He hit all four field-goal tries, including a 58-yarder with eight seconds left to beat the Panthers. He went 20 of 28 the rest of the season before the Browns cut him the week before the 2023 opener and he didn’t appear in the league again until the 2024 opener.
“I had some really great moments and the next preseason I did well in practice and training camp,” York said. “I missed some kicks by a hair in the preseason and they cut me. That sucked, but it’s a business.”
York made the AFC East tour this year after missing right from 47 and 56 yards in the opener with the Commanders and going to tryouts with the Bills, Patriots, and two with the Jets before hooking on here for the final five games.
“It was frustrating. I kicked really well at most of them,” York said of the tryouts. “It was confusing at times, but I would never say discouraging.”
“Power. He’s got great leg strength. The ball pops off his foot,” Simmons said. “He has to be a more consistent ball striker. Just get him to get it in the right direction. He’s got an opportunity here to put his career back on track.”
York, 23, had the best moment of his career in his first game after Cleveland made him a fourth-round pick in 2022. He hit all four field-goal tries, including a 58-yarder with eight seconds left to beat the Panthers. He went 20 of 28 the rest of the season before the Browns cut him the week before the 2023 opener and he didn’t appear in the league again until the 2024 opener.
“I had some really great moments and the next preseason I did well in practice and training camp,” York said. “I missed some kicks by a hair in the preseason and they cut me. That sucked, but it’s a business.”
York made the AFC East tour this year after missing right from 47 and 56 yards in the opener with the Commanders and going to tryouts with the Bills, Patriots, and two with the Jets before hooking on here for the final five games.
“It was frustrating. I kicked really well at most of them,” York said of the tryouts. “It was confusing at times, but I would never say discouraging.”