Tag: lirim Hajrullahu

Report: Cowboys make decision at kicker, waive Lirim Hajrullahu

Ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, the Cowboys have informed the CFL star he’ll be waived, leaving Brett Maher the only kicker in Dallas. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys have reportedly decided on their kicker.

According to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, the club has notified Lirim Hajrullahu that he has been waived. Gehlken cited a person familiar with the situation early Tuesday afternoon, in advance of the deadline to trim the roster to 80 players.

That move leaves Brett Maher as the only kicker left in training camp. Maher and Hajrullahu had been locked in a back-and-forth battle for weeks, with Maher seemingly holding a slight edge.

The 32-year-old Maher was previously the Cowboys’ kicker in 2018 and 2019. He hit multiple field goals of over 60 yards during that stint, but struggled with attempts from shorter distances. He was released toward the end of the 2019 season.

Hajrullahu, a former CFL star, was in his second straight camp with Dallas. He filled in briefly in 2021 for Greg Zuerlein and saw action in Week 10 versus Atlanta. He was brought back in July to provide competition for undrafted free agent Jonathan Garibay.

After neither kicker set himself apart in the early days of camp in Oxnard, the Cowboys invited a handful of kickers for even more competition. Maher was signed; Garibay was let go.

Now, with one preseason game left to play, Maher is the last man standing. Barring a surprise, he will be the team’s kicker Week 1 versus Tampa Bay.

During Saturday’s game against the Chargers, Maher missed his only field goal try, a 61-yard attempt.

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Report: Cowboys to work out new kickers, including Brett Maher

Brett Maher boomed several kicks of over 60 yards during 2 seasons with Dallas, but was let go after struggles from shorter distances. | From @ToddBrock24f7

With two kickers currently struggling in their battle for the starting job in Dallas, the team will reportedly bring in more competition.

That’s music to the ears of many Cowboys fans. But one of the kickers will be a song many wanted to never hear again.

Brett Maher, who kicked for the Cowboys in 2018 and 2019, is being brought back for a new tryout, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, who cited two individuals familiar with the situation.

Matt Ammendola, Cole Murphy, and JJ Molson will also come to Oxnard for workouts and a kicking evaluation.

Undrafted free agent Jonathan Garibay and former CFL star Lirim Hajrullahu have been underwhelming thus far at camp, though Hajrullahu seems to have taken a slight edge in his make percentage in recent days.

The Kosovo-born specialist went 8-for-8 on Monday, the first perfect day for either kicker in this year’s training camp. Garibay, the Texas Tech product, went 6-for-8.

Maher replaced Dan Bailey for the 2018 season. He ended that season with an 80.6% success rate on 36 field goals and connected on six of over 50 yards, including a then-franchise record 62-yarder versus Philadelphia. He repeated the feat early in 2019 with another 62-yard boot, and then hit a 63-yarder just a couple weeks later.

But frequent misses from more pedestrian distances led to his release in December of that season. He went on to practice squad slots with the Jets, Commanders, Texans, and Cardinals before landing with the Saints for a few weeks in 2021. He went 1-of-2 on field goal tries against the Cowboys in Week 13.

Ammedola was an NFL newcomer last season, making 13 of 19 field goals for the Jets, with a long of 49 yards.

Murphy comes from the USFL, where he went 11-for-12 with the Michigan Panthers, including a 60-yarder against New Orleans.

Molson is a UCLA alum who spent 2021 time on the Packers practice squad and was an emergency option behind Mason Crosby.

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Not their best foot forward: Both Cowboys kickers struggling early in camp

Two unproven specialists are battling for the starting kicking job in Dallas, but neither man seems to have much of a leg up. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys’ kicking competition was expected to be one to watch coming into training camp. So far, though, watching it hasn’t been pretty.

The team currently has two unproven specialists in Oxnard gunning for the regular-season roster spot. But based on their early performances to this point, it might not be surprising to see special teams guru John Fassel call in some other legs for a look-see.

Undrafted rookie Jonathan Garibay came to the Cowboys from Texas Tech with a 62-yard game-winner in college as his claim to fame. The California native was seen as the heir apparent to All-Pro Greg Zuerlein after the veteran struggled last year.

But then Dallas brought Lirim Hajrallahu back into the building last month. The ex-CFL star spent time in Cowboys camp in 2021 while Zuerlein rehabbed injuries. After a stint on the practice squad, he got the call in Week 10 and connected on five PATs versus Atlanta. He was released shortly thereafter and eventually signed with Carolina for the last three games of their season, hitting 4-of-5 field goals. Now he’s back for a second chance with the Cowboys and to give Garibay a battle.

But neither man seems to be putting their best foot forward.

Michael Gehlken reports that Hajrullahu went 3-for-8 with four straight misses on Tuesday. Garibay went 6-of-8, but missed two of his final three.

After that session, head coach Mike McCarthy called for one of his patented “Mojo Moments,” when a real-life game situation is suddenly announced and practiced on the fly.

Given how the Cowboys’ 2021 postseason ended, the team is working on racing the kicking unit onto the field with a running clock.

Hajrullahu got hurry-up field goal tries from 49, 54, and 59 yards. He missed the final two.

Garibay got the same chances. He missed them all.

Things were slightly more encouraging on Monday. Hajruallahu converted 7-of-8 tries and both his Mojo Moments. Garibay went 6-of-8 but missed both “Mojo” attempts.

McCarthy tried not to sound overly concerned about his kicking unit in his remarks to start the week, but he admitted that that phase of the game will receive extra attention for the next several days.

“It was their first time in front of a crowd, obviously, but also with the protection and rush behind them,” the coach said of his dueling specialists Monday. “It’s not what they were looking for. I think the thing that I walked away from practice [with] is we need to do more of it. Frankly, we’re going to kick every day this week. We’ll kick today and tomorrow, and we’ll kick Thursday and Friday. We’ve got to make sure we get both of those guys more opportunities.”

The Cowboys have lost four games in McCarthy’s two seasons by three points or fewer. Each of those losses saw Dallas miss at least one kick.

A summer breeze in Oxnard may have upped the degree of difficulty slightly for Garibay and Hajrullahu on Tuesday. But it bears remembering that the Cowboys will play outdoor games in Green Bay in mid-November, in Tennessee on New Year’s Eve weekend, and in Washington in early January.

The breezes may be more than stiff then; whoever ends up with the kicking job in Dallas had better develop the resolve to match.

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Panthers waive K Lirim Hajrullahu

On Wednesday, the Panthers waived K Lirim Hajrullahu.

There shall be no kicker carousel for the Carolina Panthers in 2022 . . . or at least they won’t intend on having one.

In case the two-year extension for Zane Gonzalez wasn’t a hint enough already, the Panthers have eyes for just one place kicker as we head into the upcoming campaign. That was further solidified on Wednesday, when the team officially waived Lirim Hajrullahu.

Hajrullahu came to Carolina’s rescue starting in Week 16 of the 2020 season, after Gonzalez sustained a quad injury during pregame warmups in Buffalo the outing prior. With no other viable option to replace the injured Gonzalez on such short notice, an impromptu kicking tryout would ensue featuring the likes of punter Lachlan Edwards, wide receiver Brandon Zylstra, running back Reggie Bonnafon and quarterback P.J. Walker.

Since that obviously wouldn’t suffice, Hajrullahu signed on to undertake the duties for the remainder of the year. He’d go on to convert four of his five field goal attempts and each of his eight extra point tries.

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Greg Zuerlein still in doubt; Cowboys to re-sign Lirim Hajrullahu

The Kosovo-born kicker was the Cowboys’ safety net in the preseason and again after Greg Zuerlein’s misses in Week 1. | From @ToddBrock24f7

For a guy whose job can be measured in threes, Lirim Hajrullahu is hoping the third time’s a charm in Dallas.

The Kosovo-born kicker is being signed by the Cowboys, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. It will mark the third time in less than 90 days that the specialist has been inked to a deal by the club.

News of the signing makes regular kicker Greg Zuerlein even more doubtful for Sunday’s home date against the Falcons. Zuerlein was placed on the Reserve/COVID list on Tuesday, and head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed reports that Hajrullahu would be one of two kickers given a tryout following Wednesday’s practice session to potentially replace him.

Brett Maher, the team’s kicker for 2018 and most of 2019, is said to have represented himself well during the audition. But after going 12-for-12 and being the team’s previous safety-net option- both during the preseason and again after Zuerlein struggled in Week 1- Hajrullahu will apparently once more suit up wearing the star.

Hajrullahu, a former CFL All-Star, booted two extra points in the team’s third preseason game versus Houston in August, but got no field goal chances. He was cut once Zuerlein had fully rehabbed from offseason back surgery.

But after Zuerlein missed a pair of field goals and a PAT in the season opener against Tampa, Hajrullahu was brought back onto the practice squad as insurance. Zuerlein went on to connect on all four of his kicks in Week 2, including the game-winning field goal as time expired; Hajrullahu was released two days later.

Zuerlein has not been ruled out for the Week 10 game as of yet, and McCarthy expressed optimism that he’ll be able to clear COVID protocols in time to play.

“Still hopeful Greg can hopefully, you know, potentially be ready,” McCarthy said during a Wednesday press conference. “I know it’s against the odds, but we’ll see how it goes.”

All signs, however, point to Hajrullahu making his NFL regular-season debut on Sunday.

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Cowboys re-sign K Lirim Hajrullahu to practice squad after Zuerlein’s Week 1 misses

Jerry Jones, Mike McCarthy, and John Fassel say they’re confident in Zuerlein. But they’ve brought Lirim Hajrullahu back just the same. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys’ decision-makers maintain that they have confidence in kicker Greg Zuerlein. But that doesn’t mean they won’t hedge their bets, too.

The team is reportedly re-signing Lirim Hajrullahu to the practice squad after Zuerlein went 3-for-5 in Week 1 field goals, including a missed PAT in the 31-29 loss to Tampa Bay.

Hajrullahu had filled in for the Cowboys during the preseason as Zuerlein rehabbed from back surgery. The former CFL All-Star booted two extra points in the team’s third preseason game versus Houston and got no field goal chances. He was cut after less than a week with the club, once Zuerlein was finally ready to resume his duties.

On Monday, special teams coordinator John Fassel told reporters that missing all but the final two weeks of camp was not a factor in Zuerlein’s misses Thursday night, even though his first missed field goal- on his first attempt of the season- was from a distance that’s shorter than an extra-point try.

And Zuerlein didn’t just barely miss the mark. The 31-yard kick wasn’t even close.

He went on to hit the upright minutes later on a point-after-touchdown try.

 

“Obviously, you’d like to see him make those kicks,” head coach Mike McCarthy said after the game. “You get in a game like that, you need all the points you can get.”

Zuerlein also missed a 60-yard-attempt as the first half came to a close.

The veteran himself refused to attribute the misses to rust but took blame for the loss, saying, “If I do my job, we win that game.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wasn’t quite as harsh the next day in discussing the two-point margin of defeat.

“The loss isn’t to be blamed on the kicker. But still, if we had had some execution on [some] of those kicks, it might have made a big difference here,” he told 105.3 The Fan.

But he admitted that Zuerlein’s absence from the team’s summer work is worth noting and may leave the team at less than full strength in that department.

“I felt like we really paid the price of not having our kicker in training camp,” he explained. “I look back and when you don’t have a kicker that’s real active in training camp, you may be kidding yourself in early ball games, ‘Is he really ready to go?'”

Jones, Fassel, and McCarthy have all outwardly expressed confidence that Zuerlein is their man.

But Monday’s move to bring Hajrullahu back into the fold may suggest that the kicker they call “Greg the Leg” is on somewhat shaky footing.

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Cowboys Roster Cuts: New kicker waived; Dallas’ COVID situation alters plans

The Cowboys released the ex-CFL star after less than a week; the team has no active kickers at the moment for Sunday’s preseason finale. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Lirim Hajrullahu was not believed to be a long-term answer for the Cowboys when he was signed last week, with the club maintaining that regular kicker Greg Zuerlein would be ready to resume his duties soon.

As it turns out, Hajrullahu’s stint wearing the star lasted less than a week. The Kosovo-born CFL All-Star was waived by the club on Tuesday, the only player sent packing in this latest wave of cuts.

The Cowboys, like all other NFL clubs, were required to trim their rosters from 85 to 80 players by Tuesday afternoon. But since the four players placed on the COVID/Reserve list over the past few days did not count toward the 85, Dallas was forced to release only one player.

As the team website points out, the Cowboys also receive an exemption for offensive lineman Isaac Alarcon as part of the NFL’s International Pathway Program.

With the release of Hajrullahu, the Cowboys have no game-eligible kickers at the moment. That suggests that Zuerlein may be taken off the Physically Unable to Perform List before Sunday’s preseason finale. However, more cuts will have to be made in order to bring him and any of the COVID list players- CeeDee Lamb, Malik Hooker, Israel Mukuamu, and Carlos Watkins- to the active roster.

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Cowboys News: Prescott’s most important relationship, changing of the guard at LB

A look at lessons learned during Dak Prescott’s painful 2020, who’s primed for a defensive bounceback, and why a boring Hard Knocks is good. | From @StarConscience and @ToddBrock24f7

Dak Prescott is on the cusp of beginning his real comeback. But Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t want to be the person with whom his quarterback has the strongest bond; he’s built his entire system in Dallas from Day One on strengthening Prescott’s relationship with someone else. And as No. 4 looks to put a painful 2020 behind him, he’s made it through unimaginable darkness with unexpected clarity and light. It’s a powerful story well worth reading.

Elsewhere in Cowboys Nation, the team has shuffled the deck with its kickers, and the two-time rushing champ is earmarked as a top red-zone threat once again. But defense dominates the buzz today: Maurice Canady’s surprising (or not surprising camp), Jourdan Lewis’s bounceback season, Reggie Robinson’s disappearing act, and diminishing roles for Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch all make the headlines. Plus, a Friday Night Lights-style showdown to mark the end of Cowboys camp, and why it’s a good thing that Hard Knocks has been so boring thus far. Here’s the News and Notes.

Cowboys release punter Hunter Niswander to make room for new kicker

The Cowboys waived the second-year punter; Bryan Anger takes over while newly signed Lirim Hajrullahu assumes preseason kicking duties. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The writing was on the wall in Dallas for punter Hunter Niswander. Now it’s been turned into an official press release.

Former CFL All-Star kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, brought in for a workout on Wednesday and then formally signed by the team on Thursday, will be handling all preseason kicking and field goal duties starting this Saturday night versus Houston.

Punter Hunter Niswander, kicking (for the first time) throughout camp, was placed on the waived/injured list in order to make room on the roster. Niswander has been dealing with a back ailment, according to the Cowboys. If he clears waivers, he reverts to the team’s injured reserve list.

Bryan Anger, the veteran punter signed during the offseason, is expected to take over full-time punting responsibilities.

As for Hajrullahu, his Cowboys tenure figures to be a short one if all goes according to the club’s master plan. The organization maintains that Greg Zuerlein will be ready to go for the season opener September 9th after recovering from his own back injury. He connected on eight of eight warmup field goal attempts before the team’s preseason game in Arizona. Zuerlein remains on the Physically Unable to Perform List for now, with apparently no plans by the coaching staff to put him in a live-fire situation in either of the Cowboys’ final two preseason contests.

Niswander came on last season in relief of Chris Jones. Over eight games, he punted 26 times and ended the 2020 campaign with a 47.2-yard average.

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Cowboys News: Prescott playing in preseason? La’el Collins hurt in practice, Amari to suit up

Wednesday’s Dallas Cowboys news includes excitement for the LB room, returning stars, and the recap of the second episode of Hard Knocks.

The Cowboys are back in Dallas. After spending the first half of training camp in Oxnard, they’ve returned to The Star to get things ramped up as the season approaches. With wide receiver Amari Cooper and quarterback Dak Prescott returning to full speed at practice, will either see the field against Houston? What to make of La’el Collins leaving Wednesday’s practice early with a possible injury?

Questions surround the kicker position with a CFL veteran in town to compete for the role while Greg Zuerlein is out. The defense is warming up to new coordinator Dan Quinn, and the offensive coordinator has set the highest of bars for his unit.

Fresh faces in the linebacker room have been an attention-grabber for the Cowboys. Keanu Neal’s transition has worked well and Leighton Vander Esch detailed what it means to have all the new guys around, including rookie Micah Parsons. And after the first roster cut, things are heating up in camp, which you can see up close in the new episode of Hard Knocks, recapped by our KD Drummond.

Here are the most recent news and notes.