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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andrew Joseph

Brett Maher’s pregame warmups were going so poorly that Jerry Jones intervened with a pep talk

While the Cowboys did easily defeat the Buccaneers in their NFC wild card matchup, the entire build-up to Sunday’s divisional round game against the Niners has surrounded the kicking game.

And judging from pregame warmups, that conversation isn’t going to stop.

Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed four extra points in that wild card win. It was such a shocking performance that quarterback Dak Prescott was caught on tape urging the coaches to go for two every time instead (he later said it was just an emotional response and talked it over with Maher). But the Cowboys did decide to stick with Maher for Sunday. His performance in pregame warmups didn’t inspire confidence, though.

According to reporters at Levi’s Stadium, Maher struggled throughout warmups. And after missing a pair of kicks, owner Jerry Jones came onto the field to give Maher a pep talk. This came after Jones adamantly supported Maher earlier in the week.

And on top of that, the Cowboys staff did not appreciate some gamesmanship by the Niners where they got in the way of Maher’s warmups.

But a pep talk from Jones? Fans had plenty of thoughts about that.

This was how Twitter reacted

To be honest, I’m not sure how Jones’ pep talk could have taken away pressure from Maher. If anything, it would make matters worse.

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