Dallas Cowboys kicking struggles laid bare in brutal team video

08 August 2023 , 20:30

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Brett Maher is out but the Dallas Cowboys kicking struggles are still going on in his absence (Image: 2023 Getty Images)

Footage from the Dallas Cowboys training camp shows their kicking struggles are not behind them despite Brett Maher's offseason departure.

In videos shared by the team from training camp, only one field goal was good by kickers Brandon Aubrey and Tristan Vizcaino. Both were offseason acquisitions to compensate for Maher joining the Denver Broncos.

In the first clip, Aubrey misses to the left. The second shows Vizcaino thudding a kick against the upright. Aubrey's attempt in the third is the worst of the lot and is scuffed so short that it barely even breaches the 10-yard line.

Vizcaino then copies Aubrey's first effort by dragging his kick wide to the left. The rookie Aubrey was the one to eventually end the drought with a not-entirely-convincing kick that just about has enough on it to clear the crossbar.

Following this practice, Vizcaino is now looking for a new team after being cut by the Cowboys on Monday. The Dallas Morning News reports he had four straight misses during Saturday's practice, which the videos are from, but did end up going 4-of-8.

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His overall record after eight practices was 22-of-35. Comparatively, Aubrey is at a marginally better 26-of-35 and went 5-of-7 on the same day.

The 28-year-old rookie is now the only kicker on the team's 90-man roster. However, head coach Mike McCarthy is not overly worried or stressing about signing another. "We're always open to [possibly adding a veteran], but I'm excited about our young guy [Aubrey]," he said.

Vizcaino's second effort struck the upright and bounced out

Aubrey himself is taking it all in his stride. "Being a rookie, it's good to get these game-like reps under my belt just so I'm more prepared when the game does eventually come," he told reporters after Monday's practice, during which he hit 7-of-9. The rookie also has the backing of owner and general manager Jerry Jones.

"Have you heard of the yips?" he asked ESPN. "Usually, that goes with age. [Aubrey's] age is actually a positive; not that a veteran player can't be a positive, too."

Jones was referencing Maher here, who did not re-sign with the Cowboys after enduring a difficult postseason. His kicking during Dallas' Wild Card Game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was historically wayward.

The veteran kicker only hit one of five extra point attempts, and those four misses are more than anyone else has managed since tracking began in 1932. In the divisional round, Maher had his one extra point blocked but did make 2-of-2 field goal attempts in the 19-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Those woes were all the more surprising as they came after setting single-season kicking records for the franchise in points scored (137) and field goals made from over 50 yards out (9). However, his former teammates are continuing that wretched postseason form instead, and an intervention by an experienced free agent kicker appears inevitable.

Matthew Abbott