MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.: Kicker Cody Parkey signed with the Browns on Saturday and didn’t have a chance to practice field goals with long snapper Charley Hughlett and placeholder Britton Colquitt until Sunday during pregame warmups.
Then he struggled in his debut with the Browns, making 3-of-6 field goals and missing attempts of 41, 42 and 46 yards during a 30-24 overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. The Browns would’ve won if Parkey had made his 46-yard try with no time left in regulation.
“It can’t really get any worse, so look at the bright side and just say if you play in this league long enough, you miss some kicks, and unfortunately I missed some big ones today,” Parkey said. “I can’t have them back. I can’t do anything about it now. It’s over.”
Parkey signed with the Browns after fellow kicker Patrick Murray suffered a left knee injury in Friday’s walk-through practice and was placed on injured reserve.
Parkey had just finished practicing kicks by himself in his hometown of Jupiter, Fla., when the Browns called him. He flew to Cleveland to sign with the Browns on Saturday, then flew with them to Miami later the same day. He didn’t get a chance to kick on Saturday, and he practiced 20-25 field goals in pregame warmups Sunday.
“It’s tough, but that’s what I signed up to do,” said Parkey, who made the Pro Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014 before missing most of last season with a groin injury. “So I can’t make an excuse. I can’t do anything about that. I’ve just got to go man up and make the kick.”
Parkey’s misses went to the left, including one that hit the left upright in the third quarter.
The Browns may look for a new kicker considering Parkey’s performance, but coach Hue Jackson defended him after the game.
“We can’t kick the guy before we get on a plane,” Jackson said of Parkey’s lack of practice time with the Browns. “We had a little walkthrough, we had a little mock game and no kicking. We got here, and he kicked before the game.
“It’s a tough deal for him. But he didn’t lose the game. I’ll say that again. Anybody [who] wants to say who lost the game, just look right at me. This had nothing to do with the players and them. This is on me, and I take full responsibility.”
Penalties galore
Right tackle Austin Pasztor committed five of the Browns’ 13 penalties. He drew three flags for holding and two for false starts. His holding penalty in overtime essentially doomed the offense during its lone possession after regulation.
Pasztor explained Dolphins four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Wake gave him problems throughout the game and contributed to his penalties. Pasztor considers Wake the best pass rusher he’s ever played.
“I was really trying to get off the snap count to get in front of Wake,” Pasztor said. “He has great jump-off, so that was something that I saw on film and I’ve played him before and I knew that. So I’m trying to get the best jump I can, and I guess I left early. … Then with the holding, I got to do a better job getting in front of him so that I don’t have to hold, but it felt like it was either that or a sack.”
Wake beat Pasztor during the Browns’ first possession, strip-sacked rookie quarterback Cody Kessler and defensive end Jason Jones recovered the fumble at the Dolphins’ 39 with 12:53 left in the first quarter. Five plays later, quarterback Ryan Tannehill and wide receiver DeVante Parker connected for a 26-yard touchdown to give the Dolphins a 7-0 lead with 10:16 remaining in the opening quarter.
“You want to play against the best,” Pasztor said. “You want to be put in the toughest situation and ultimately come out on top, and today I didn’t do that. So it’s back to work tomorrow to get better and see where I can improve, watch the film and see what I did technique-wise that wasn’t appropriate, got me into the bad situations I was in and improve from there.”
Rising to the occasion
Undrafted rookie cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun became the first player in Browns history to return an interception for a touchdown in his NFL regular-season debut.
On third-and-3 at the Dolphins’ 21, defensive linemen Tyrone Holmes and Gabe Wright pressured Tannehill as he threw the interception. Boddy-Calhoun returned it 27 yards for a touchdown, allowing the Browns to go ahead 10-7 with 6:47 left in the second quarter.
“All I can control is my attitude and my effort,” Boddy-Calhoun said. “I’ll trade in that play for a win every day of the year. It was a good play, but I really wish we got the win.”
Shuffling at corner
Boddy-Calhoun received extensive playing time in the nickel package because two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden (groin) was among the Browns players who were inactive Sunday. Haden tested the injury during pregame warm-ups but didn’t play.
The Browns used Tramon Williams in Haden’s place opposite Jamar Taylor. In the nickel package, they moved Williams into the slot and employed Taylor and Boddy-Calhoun, instead of fellow undrafted rookie Tracy Howard, on the outside.
But Williams suffered a shoulder injury early in the fourth quarter. He left the game and didn’t return, prompting Howard to play. After the game, Williams said he had X-rays but was fine.
The other inactive Browns players were quarterback Josh McCown (fractured left collarbone), rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman (broken right hand in cast), safety Ibraheim Campbell (hamstring), center Cameron Erving (bruised lung), rookie defensive end Carl Nassib (recent surgery on broken hand) and rookie offensive lineman Shon Coleman. Haden and Shon Coleman were the only ones who weren’t ruled out last week.
Extra points
• The Dolphins held a moment of silence before the game for Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, 24, one of three people killed in a boat crash early Sunday morning off Miami Beach. The Marlins canceled their game Sunday against the Atlanta Braves.
• Browns outside linebacker Nate Orchard exited the stadium with his left leg in a walking boot.
• Browns defensive lineman Stephen Paea suffered a back injury that’s not believed to be serious.
• Dolphins players Arian Foster, Kenny Stills and Michael Thomas knelt during the national anthem. The Browns stood.