FRISCO, Texas – The message was consistent. But the tone was different.
The Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday expressed no plans to leave kicker Brett Maher after he became the first player in NFL history to miss four extra point attempts in a game since the league began keeping statistics 91 years ago.
But the Cowboys’ confidence Maher expressed a day after the NFC’s 31-14 wildcard win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was inconsistent.
There was team owner Jerry Jones, on his morning radio show, wary of moving away too quickly from a player who had 50 of 53 extra point attempts in the regular season, in addition to 29 of 32 field goals.
“But we’re going to look at it,” Jones said on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan. “It would be a real blow to go into the rest of this tournament, the rest of the playoffs, with the kicker wobbly.”
There was head coach Mike McCarthy, who had said from the podium at Raymond James Stadium on Monday night that Maher was “disappointed but we need him”. On Tuesday, McCarthy further reiterated belief in Maher’s trial and the kicker’s ability to recover after the worst night of his career.
“I think the most important thing is to make sure you have a good plan for how Brett is moving forward,” McCarthy said. “We will move forward. So that’s the plan from now on.”
The qualifying phrase “from now on” seemed remarkable.
And then there was Special Teams coordinator John Fassel, who had no hesitation in saying if he would like Maher to start for the Cowboys at kicker in Sunday’s divisional playoff game with the San Francisco 49ers.
“Damn it, yes,” Fassel said. “If you ask me, absolutely.”
So what will the cowboys do? And how do they explain the disastrous performance that befell the NFL’s third-highest scoring player (137 total points) in the 2022 season?
How do the Cowboys plan to deal with kicker Brett Maher after his record four missed extra points on Monday? (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
A strange night of kicking
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the cowboys also believe that every extra point attempt is worth a story.
The story goes on
The coaches agreed that Maher’s concerns Monday night were more psychological and situational than physical. The 33-year-old is unharmed. There were no wind or weather concerns in Tampa Monday night. And the kicking operation — the hold, the snap — was clean.
On his first miss, “Maher didn’t commit to a direct hit,” Fassel said. “Almost like a lazy swing.” The ball sailed so far to the right that it landed on the stadium stand instead of in the net behind the post. The Cowboys then had to continue their kick operation with the second of their three designated kick or “K” balls, a ball Maher had far less repetition and experience with.
Apparently, to further detract from the second attempt at extra points, officials marked the Cowboys’ snapping operation before their second kick, saying they couldn’t use a white-painted blade of grass from the field’s painted line to spot the ball. Whether that contributed to a second wide right extra point attempt is up for debate, but what isn’t is Maher seemingly catching the ball with his toe rather than executing a clean shot.
The stands swallowed that ball as well, leaving the Cowboys to settle for their last and least-worn kick ball.
“We only had our third and final ‘K’ ball that hadn’t been polished up,” Fassel explained the nuances. “You only have so much time with the K-Balls, so you spend most of it [pregame] on the first what’s left on the second and hope to get one [kick] on the third. The first two were lost in the stands. Except for our last ‘K’-Ball and if we lost that one, we would have had to use one of the Buccaneers.”
Maher overcorrected his third attempt. This time he swung to the left.
And by the fourth miss, Maher’s head was in chaos. Yes, Fassel said Maher had the “yips” — a psychological phenomenon in sports that the Mayo Clinic defines as athletes “becoming so anxious and self-absorbed — overthinking to the point of distraction — that their ability to perform a skill … is impaired.” .”
Maher finally connected on his fifth attempt.
On Tuesday morning at a meeting with Fassel, the kicker remained “disturbed”.
“A perfect storm for bad kicks,” said Fassel. “I believe in a hot hand and I believe in the yips. Absolutely. You will sometimes wonder how to get into the yips and you will sometimes wonder how to get back into the hot hand. I think it is [to] go further to the line and shoot.”
Fassel explains Maher the “best medicine”.
As of Tuesday night, the Cowboys did not plan to drastically change Maher’s practice week or game day, a person with knowledge of the plan confirmed to Yahoo Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to publicly reveal details of the team’s game schedule.
Maher practiced at team headquarters on Tuesday, confronting and reviewing the frustrating tape and preparing for his normally scheduled hash work on Thursday and situational kicks on Friday. A possible change of direction would be the most likely change, if there was one (e.g. winding from the right instead of the left), but a clean week of training could eliminate even that tendency.
The next full training session for the cowboys, and with it the set kick time, was scheduled for Thursday.
Fassel hailed Maher’s process as the best and most distinctive routine of kickers he’d worked with in 18 seasons coaching NFL special teams with legs like Sebastian Janikowski and Greg Zuerlein. Everyone got the howl at some point. Everyone then stepped forward and moved past them.
“This week will give him confidence if he just comes out again,” said Fassel. “He’s probably going to be pretty hurt mentally by the time he can kind of sweat and kick again. There is no better medicine than being back on the practice site. i am optimistic A good, professional man who really cares… makes me feel optimistic about a good rebound. We all want it.
“To be honest, as a coach, I live for those moments — to play more psychologist than coach, to get back into the meeting rooms and find a way to help these guys get back on their feet.”
Maher won’t have much time to turn. The Cowboys travel to San Francisco Saturday after a shortened week of practice to upset the 49ers and advance to a conference championship game for the first time in 27 years.
Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara will present another grass challenge compared to the Cowboys’ home field. Bay Area winds will likely continue to test Maher’s skills.
The 49ers are 3.5 point favorites according to BetMGM. The Cowboys will need every point they can get. Organization members hope Maher can deliver.
“At the end of the day, we all have a job to do,” McCarthy said. “He knows he has to put the ball through the posts. And he’s been super productive and consistent for us.
“In this business, especially in this game, you learn from your experience when things aren’t going your way as opposed to your success. Just like our entire football team [in a Week 18 loss]we came from Washington and we got hit in the jaw and I think we responded clearly.
“I think he definitely has that in him.”
Follow Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein