In the first quarter of Week 14, P Corey Bojorquez showed the Jaguars how he had been flipping field position all year against teams. Bojorquez had to punt the ball inside the goal line on fourth-and-10 with 4:34 left in the quarter. He stayed calm in a very dangerous circumstance and kicked the ball over 70 yards deep to the Jaguars 20-yard line.
"Great play in the game," special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone said. "Changed the entire field position for us. We covered it well. We need to be a little bit more consistent with our hangs and our distances. He's done a great job."
Bojorquez is a candidate for the Browns to make the 2023 NFL Pro Bowl after his stellar play this season. It will be his first Pro Bowl selection in his career. He has 29 punts this season and ranks fifth best in pinning opponents inside the 20.
Playing football for Bojorquez started late as he mostly played baseball and soccer. It was in his junior year at Mayfair High School in California when he got his shot at playing football.
"The punter my school had was the top guy coming out of high school, and they didn't have a punter coming in after him," Bojorquez said. "I met up with him a few times and he told me if I can get out of soccer practice to come try it out."
Bojorquez didn't have to run at soccer practice anymore as he made the football team. He started to perfect his craft by going on YouTube and watching punting videos. His grandparents were supportive as they brought him to football, and he would go out in his front yard and practice for four hours a day.
After finishing high school, he attended Cerritos College, a junior college, for two years. He later transferred to New Mexico University, where he served as a punter during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. In 2017, he made an 80-yard punt that was downed at the opponent's 2-yard line, the second-longest punt in UNM history. He averaged 52.8 yards per punt, and his longest punt was 66 yards in a game against Nevada in 2017. That same year, he won the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week award for his outstanding performance.
Bojorquez entered the draft but wasn't picked. He signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent on May 14, 2018, but was released on Sept. 1, 2018. He got his shot when the Bills picked him up on Sept. 2, 2018, and spent three seasons in Buffalo.
"My senior year at New Mexico went pretty well, but I wasn't sure about getting drafted," Bojorquez said. "I came in on a stack class of punters. There were eight rookie punters in my rookie year, so it was a ton of competition. I figured I did enough to get a chance, and that chance happened."
On April 4, 2022, Bojorquez joined the Browns and was announced as the starter once training camp concluded. This season, Bojorquez has an average punt gross of 49.45 yards, which ranks eighth in the league. His longest kick this season was 73 yards against the Jaguars in Week 14.
"Corey is a huge part of this team and is one of the special teams' leaders," LB Mohamoud Diabate said. "Seems like every time he heads out on the field, he flips it. Corey is having an All-Pro season. Without him, our team wouldn't be where we are today."
The Browns will travel to Houston to take on the Texans on Sunday, and Bojorquez is looking forward to continuing to play well against good Texans special teams.
"They are a very good team, and their special teams are underrated," Bojorquez said. "This is going to be a good challenge for us. For me, I will stick to what I've been doing. One thing I always tried to stay consistent with is in my mindset, treat every game the same. I have been fortunate enough to play very deep in the playoffs, so going into games, I want to keep that same mentality."
