BEREA, Ohio _ 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."
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