FRISCO, Texas — Brandon Aubrey has kicked in the same cleats on every surface of his career. The Dallas Cowboys kicker said Thursday at The Star that he does not plan to change for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens at Maracanã Stadium.
Maracanã has taken unusually heavy rain over the past six weeks, and NFL field director Nick Pappas told The Associated Press the league shipped a tarp to Rio to protect the turf.
Aubrey has made all 3 of his field goal attempts this season, including a 60-yarder against Washington on Sunday.
“I’ve worn the same cleats on every surface I’ve played on,” Aubrey said. “I’ve got a couple of options in the bag just in case, but it’s going to have to be extreme for me to switch.”
Aubrey kicks with his right foot.
“It would have to be really extreme to switch the kicking foot,” Aubrey explained.
Brandon Aubrey Checks Extra-Point Spot First At Maracanã
Punter Bryan Anger holds for Aubrey, and Trent Sieg is the long snapper.
“First and foremost, good extra-point spot, make sure it’s in good shape,” Aubrey said. “If it’s not, then maybe you’ll talk to Bryan and Trent, move it over to the left or right a little bit, or just the hash looks better, go to one of those hashes. Other than that, I can’t really control where I’m at on the field when I kick, so just deal with it.”
“Not too concerned with it yet,” Aubrey continued. “Just going to focus on getting some good sleep on the flight, which is going to be hard to do, so that’s kind of the focus right now.”
Maracanã is a soccer stadium and home to Flamengo. Aubrey will not account for wind until he is on the field.
“Not before the game,” Aubrey said. “I’ll just get on the stadium and take into account what’s going on and then adjust from there.”
Aubrey has no expectations for how the stadium plays. “Every stadium is kind of unique, so just wait till you get there,” he said.
Brian Schottenheimer On Brandon Aubrey’s Dirty-Ball Kickoffs
Aubrey played soccer at Notre Dame before he turned to football. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday that he watched Aubrey spend countless offseason hours on his dirty-ball kickoffs.
“That’s a good question, and I appreciate you pointing that out because he worked tremendously hard at that,” Schottenheimer said. “Talking about the dirty balls, of course, the way he’s kicking the dirty balls, and you saw what it did to Washington’s returners. And it’s the soccer influence, which is pretty cool, but he worked tremendously hard on that. So it’s a huge advantage.”
“I think if they have to hesitate and find the ball, and the way the ball bounces is unique, you guys all know that, but it’s become something really good for us,” Schottenheimer continued. “And something I’m really proud of him because, again, I saw him countless hours in the offseason working on that.”
Schottenheimer left the technique questions for Aubrey.
“I wouldn’t even begin to talk about it,” Schottenheimer explained. “I can’t kick a soccer ball very well, so I can’t imagine kicking a football, but he certainly will take you through that because I know he is very proud of how well he’s doing with it.”
Dallas signed Aubrey to a four-year, $28 million extension on April 20 that made him the highest-paid kicker in NFL history.
“Lots of experimentation, just kicking the ball a million different ways,” Aubrey said. “Football is a funny thing. It’s a weird shape, so even with the form I’m using, if I mis-hit it a little bit with a dirty ball, it doesn’t have to be super precise, but there’s a shape you’re looking for. But the mis-hit is nasty too, which helps.”
“So I’m trying to live in a world where there’s probably three different balls I can hit,” Aubrey added. “One goes long, one is the perfect dirty ball, and then the one you’ll be short of landing zone. Try to limit that short of landing zone as much as possible.”
Kickoff at Maracanã Stadium is 3:25 p.m. CT Sunday on CBS.
