Well, it’s official. Dan Bailey has suffered a groin injury. Coach Jason Garrett has yet to give a timetable on his return to action. In his place, the Dallas Cowboys will sign Mike Nugent. Nugent won out a competition with Jason Myers and Sam Irwin-Hill to earn the spot this past Tuesday.
The lack of a timetable is pretty concerning. Dan Bailey is currently the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL. He has made 178 of his 198 field goal attempts throughout his career. This is the first time Bailey has missed a game since signing with the Cowboys as a undrafted free agent back in 2011.
Jason Garrett is quoted saying, “You want a guy who is reliable. It’s really important at that position you have a guy you can trust and count on. You want that throughout your whole team at every position but that’s a very valuable position. You’re going to put the fortunes of your team in that guy’s hands, or on his foot, and you want a guy you can trust and rely on. Experience matters, but you don’t want to make it all about that. You want to choose the best guy. But reliability and how much you can trust them is certainly a big factor.”[heading]Watch Out Dan Bailey! Nugent’s Outlook[/heading]The 34-year-old veteran is trying to renew his career since losing out to Aldrick Rosas of the New York Giants during training camp. Nugent has played for multiple franchises throughout his career. He has played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Giants. This has led him to make 236 of 292 career field goal attempts. This shows that he has the potential to be the consistent guy Jason Garrett is looking for.
Nugent is catching another break in the next 4 games. 3 are in climate-controlled stadiums. 2 home games at AT&T stadium, and 1 away game in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The indoor conditions make for a much easier time kicking. There are considerably less environmental factors to worry about. The only outdoor game will be this Sunday at FedEx Field against the Washington Redskins.
The Cowboys did have to make room on their roster for Nugent, so they waived Damontre Moore. Moore was inactive last week. Through 3 games he has been credited by the coaching staff with 7 tackles and 4 quarterback hurries this season.
That’s not a ton of production, but it’s enough to have a bit of concern for the Cowboys. They don’t have a very deep defensive line. That means some concern is rising from the cutting of a defensive lineman.