On Christmas Eve, Dustin Hopkins went full throttle to hunt down Dameon Pierce on a kickoff return.
Instead of catching Pierce, who finished in the end zone, Hopkins went limp from the play.
During his pursuit, Hopkins suffered a hamstring injury to his kicking leg that was more than just an injury.
In Houston’s first game, this posed a major problem for the Browns’ special teams, as they had no one else to give them the kickoff or kickoff.
It didn’t hurt them that day, but Hopkins has been out since and the Browns are dealing with another injury issue.
In response to the injury, Andrew Berry did what Andrew Berry does and brought in the best kicker available: Riley Patterson.
In his first appearance, Patterson missed an extra point but has been on the defensive ever since.
In the past, Patterson has been very good and should make Browns fans feel good about the kicking situation.
More importantly, Patterson has some pretty good, recent playoff experience.
Last year, he was the one who completed the Jaguars’ comeback against the Chargers by hitting a 36-yard field goal as time expired on the comeback.
Yes, when Dustin Hopkins is healthy, he will take over the kicking duties, but until then, all our confidence is in Riley Patterson.
