It's often said that field goal kicking is like a golf swing. If so, Cleveland Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins is struggling like Rory Mcilroy in a major.
During a 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Hopkins missed two more field goals, from 38 and 43 yards, which aided the Browns biggest rivals to pull away in the second half. The two latest misses give him a league leading nine for the season.
And yet, while the 2024 campaign has not been kind to Hopkins, support from head coach Kevin Stefanski has not wavered.
"He's our kicker," Stefanski affirmed after the game. "We expect him to make those. He's a veteran, he's a pro. Expect him to work through it."
Minutes after Stefanski backed Hopkins, the veteran kicker stood as his locker and took ownership of his struggles.
"I'm paid to make those kicks so I want it more for my teammates and the coaching staff, ownership and the city more than I want it for myself," Hopkins said. "I want that for this group. It's frustrating in one sense, obviously professional I invest a lot of time and effort into what I do, and to see it not come to fruition is frustrating. Been a frustrating year."
Interestingly enough, Hopkins admitted that he still feels good mentally, as unexplainable as that may be to some fans. After missing two field goals on Sunday, the 34-year-old has now missed some variety of kick in all but four games in 2024. Of his nine mises, six of them have missed wide left, including one against the Steelers on Sunday. Hopkins admitted to overcompensating on the second attempt, which he then missed right early in the third quarter.
Three weeks ago, Hopkins missed two field goals left in the first half against the New Orleans Saints and told reporters afterward that he believed he had found a solution at halftime, but never got a chance to attempt another kick in that game. Whatever the fix was back then the problems persist.
"Honestly, every week I feel like I'm there working and I'm like, 'OK, I feel like maybe this is the swing thought that will work' and maybe one week it doesn't. Usually a swing thought will work for five weeks and then maybe you have to find a new one. But this year it's been like you got to find one every week. So it's been tough going."
Stefanski wasn't the only person to express support for Hopkins during and after the game. His former college teammate, quarterback Jameis Winston has constantly been there to lift up Hopkins. He was again on Sunday.
"He will continue to find ways to persevere," Winston said of his fellow Florida State Seminole. "I know, through my experience, Dustin is going through a lot. That's none of my business to place, but I know what he's going through. At the end of the day, he's gonna hold himself to a high standard. ... Tough things are gonna happen, but I know Dustin's spirit and I know he will keep his head up and he will continue drill and get better and better."
What's maybe most perplexing about Hopkins' inconsistent season is how brilliant he was last season. He made a career-high 91.7% of his field goals in 2023, including going eight-for-eight from 50-plus yards and knocking in a new career-high of 58 yards on multiple occasions. One year later, he's posting a career-worst made field goal percentage of 64% and made just half of his 50-yard attempts.
Despite the type of pressure that can come with those types of struggles at a position that is maybe as pass or fail as it gets, with no in between, Hopkins hasn't worried once about his job security, but not because he doesn't care.
"I'm not worried about that, and it's not because I don't care about the job," Hopkins explained. "Like I said, I want to do well for this locker room and this coaching staff and this ownership honestly have been so amazing and I want to do well for them, so all I can do is worry about the next thing. And so, no, I like working, I like being here, this is a great building, but it's not something I think about."
