The Dallas Cowboys had a new designation for their injury report on Wednesday with kicker Brandon Aubrey: “NIR-Other (jury duty).”
One of the top kickers in the NFL missed practice Wednesday after being selected for a 12-person jury for a felony assault case in Tarrant County, according to the Star-Telegram. The case is reportedly centered around a second-degree strangulation charge.
Aubrey’s missed practice apparently won’t be a one-off either. He is reportedly expected to return to court Thursday, Friday and possibly even longer, as there’s no clear timetable for the length of the trial. The Cowboys apparently tried to pull Aubrey away from jury duty, but he insisted on doing it.
The good news for the Cowboys is a typical trial schedule won’t get in the way of Aubrey’s availability on Sundays, barring special circumstances. Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reports Aubrey isn’t expected to miss the Cowboys’ game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
The situation is an odd piece of background noise for a player who has become one of the best kickers in the NFL over the past season and a half. A former soccer player at Notre Dame and in Toronto FC’s feeder system, Aubrey decided to give football a try while working as a software engineer and made it to the NFL after two seasons with the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions.
Aubrey was named a first-team All-Pro as a rookie in 2023 after making his first 36 field goal attempts and has continued to impress this season, making the second-longest field goal in NFL history last month. He is 17-of-19 on field goals in 2024, and 8-of-9 on attempts of at least 50 yards.
So the Cowboys will be hoping some missed practices don’t throw him off.