The Browns are winning early against the Texans, but they may need to finish out the victory without one of their most important players.
That would be Dustin Hopkins. The veteran kicker came up injured on Houston’s first score of the game, which came on a 98-yard kickoff returned for a touchdown by Dameon Pierce.
Hopkins was the last man to beat on the play, and he ran hard in an effort to catch Pierce. Ultimately, he failed to do so and got bumped at the end of the play.
Hopkins came up favoring his hamstring after that.
DAMEON PIERCE 98-YARD KICK RETURN TOUCHDOWN. WOW.
📺: #CLEvsHOU on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/UIg1XAjsX3 pic.twitter.com/VWLQXPIhWv— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2023
And now, Hopkins’ status has been put into question because of that injury.
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Dustin Hopkins injury update
According to the CBS broadcast, Hopkins is dealing with a hamstring injury. He is “questionable” to return because of that malady and was seen without his helmet on the sideline after a stay in the blue medical tent.
After the Browns scored their third touchdown of the day, the team went for two rather than kicking the extra point. The team also opted to attempt a pass to the end zone with five seconds left in the first half rather than trying a short field goal.
That painted a bleak picture about Hopkins’ potential return to the game. As expected, he didn’t play again and coach Kevin Stefanski announced the kicker would need an MRI to determine the extent of his injury.
“We will see,” he said. “I don’t know.”
As such, the Browns may need to rely on their kicker depth as they look to do damage to Houston’s playoff chances.
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Who is the Browns’ emergency kicker?
It isn’t known exactly whom the Browns would trust as an emergency kicker in Hopkins’ absence. Punter Corey Bojorquez handled the lone kickoff after Hopkins’ exit, so he appears to be favored in the role should the Browns like to use him.
But will Cleveland allow Bojorquez to attempt a field goal or extra point? He had never done so in regular-season play, so the Browns were more comfortable going for it on fourth down and sticking with two-point conversion tries for the rest of the day Sunday.
It stands to reason that the Browns will add kicker insurance behind Hopkins to help out in case he has to miss time. The team doesn’t have a kicker on the practice squad, so perhaps it will chase a player like the recently released Riley Patterson to fill that void.
