Jerry Jones on Brett Maher: Rather than rely on kicker, get it in the end zone

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Among the things that went wrong for the Cowboys in last Sunday’s loss to the Packers were a pair of missed field goals by kicker Brett Maher.

The first miss came near the end of the first half and the second cost the Cowboys a chance at trying for a last-ditch onside kick to set up a tying score. Maher has now missed three field goals so far this season and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked about his early season performance during a Tuesday appearance on 105.3 The Fan.

Field goals are being missed at a higher rate around the league, which Jones seemed to note by saying that “you don’t know if that ball is going to go through there or not” and that Maher is not an exception to that rule.

“You’d like to think you do, but you don’t. And so, his performance so far is giving us, when we step up there, we don’t know if it’s going through or not,” Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News. “We really need to make our decisions based on whether we think we can score a touchdown or not. I remember very early on when I was first involved in the NFL and with the Cowboys, we didn’t want to spend anything, and we didn’t want to get bent out of shape over a kicker because we usually thought if it comes down to the kicker to win a game, that we weren’t going to do it. Rather than rely on that, just get it in the end zone.”

Head coach Jason Garrett made a somewhat more confident show of support for Maher after the game that noted he’s made some big kicks in the past, but memories of such kicks can often fade in the face of sustained struggles.