Mccarthy: Cowboys trust Maher despite missed extra points

Cowboys Coach Mike Mccarthy said Thursday his team had “trust”in Brett Maher after the kicker missed a record four extrapoint attempts in Dallas’ playoff win Monday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Mccarthy added that Maher would need to “practice well” this week ahead of a divisional-round matchup at San Francisco.

The coach’s comments came a day after the Cowboys signed third-year kicker Tristan Vizcaino to their practice squad. Mccarthy downplayed any threat to Maher’s job security, telling reporters,“i just think we want to make sure that we’re in position to always add depth to our football team.”

Maher set an unhappy NFL record for a playoff or regular season contest by missing four extra points in one game. Those gaffes came after the Cowboys’ first four touchdowns, spanning from the first quarter to the third.

Maher finally split the uprights on the extra point when Dallas got in the end zone in the fourth quarter, leaving him 1 for 5 on the day.

The fourth-year kicker was “distraught” over his performance, Dallas special teams coach John Fassel said Tuesday at a news conference while also expressing optimism that it wouldn’t affect Maher’s mindset going forward.

“He knows it was a bad day at the office,”fassel said,“and I have full confidence he’ll rebound.”

In his third year with Dallas, sandwiched around one season with the New Orleans Saints in 2021 and stints with several practice squads, Maher made 50 of 53 extra-point attempts in the regular season. He also hit 29 of 32 field-goal attempts, including 9 of 11 from 50-plus yards.