SPEAKING OF KICKERS

Hard to believe it hasn’t happened yet, but it appears Bengals kicker and Browns draft pick Cade York can become the first kicker to score a point for both teams in the 55 seasons of the Battle of Ohio on Sunday. He’d like to go one better.

“I told them when I left to go to Washington at the beginning of the year I was going to hit a game-winner against them and I was disappointed I didn’t get that chance,” York said this week. “So now God gave me another chance and that would be pretty cool.”

York, a fourth-round pick of Cleveland in 2022 who made two of three field-goal tries against the Bengals that season, says there are no hard feelings, and he’s already got a jersey swap planned with Browns guard Wyatt Teller.

The Browns cut York after the training camp of 2023, a season he didn’t kick in a game, and he re-signed with them this past offseason even though they already had the vet Dustin Hopkins.

After what he thought was a solid training camp, York hooked on with Washington after the Browns cut him a second time in time for this year’s opener. But he was cut after he missed both field-goal attempts.

He surfaced in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago when Evan McPherson went on injured reserve with a groin injury. York got a game ball after his first game in Dallas when he made all his kicks and pounded six touchbacks to keep the ball away from NFL kick return leader KaVontae Turpin.

“I never got a game ball for hitting such short kicks,” said York, who hit 37- and 29-yard field goals against the Cowboys before adding a 21-yarder in Tennessee last Sunday.

York says it wasn’t his rookie year that got him cut, but the next preseason. It wasn’t a surprise.

“I was fine in the practices in training camp,” York said. “But in games, I was going crazy hard at the ball. Being too aggressive.”

York looks to be settled here. He’s made all but one of his eight kicks after missing a PAT last week.

“It’s going to be cool see all my buddies and the guys who were in Bible study,” York said.