Mike McCarthy delves into Cowboys decision to sign kicker Tristan Vizcaino

On Thursday, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy pulled back the curtain on the team’s move to add another kicker to the roster after Brett Maher‘s bad night during which he missed four extra point attempts. The Cowboys signed kicker Tristan Vizcaino to the practice squad on Wednesday, but plan to stick with Maher on Sunday versus the San Francisco 49ers.

McCarthy revealed that the team kept Maher in the loop on their plans and said that he understood.

“Oh yeah, everybody understands,” McCarthy said. “That was handled from the start. We did something similar with Greg (Zuerlein) last year. This is just a part of… we expect to keep moving forward. Anytime you can add a quality player to your roster, you should.”

The Cowboys skipper reiterated that the team is behind Maher as they get ready to travel for the divisional round matchup on Sunday.

“It doesn’t take away anything from our trust with Brett,” McCarthy said. “We just want to make sure we’re in position to always add depth to our football team.”

During the media’s time on the practice field on Thursday, Maher went 6-for-6 while Vizcaino went 3-for-5 on field goals, according to The Athletics‘ Jon Machota.

A windy day today at The Star. It didn’t seem to bother Cowboys kicker Brett Maher, who missed 4 extra points Monday night. He was a perfect 6-for-6 kicking field goals today in practice. New Cowboys kicker Tristan Vizcaino was 3-for-5 pic.twitter.com/JMjEE88bXv

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) January 19, 2023

Cowboys make the call to add second kicker

It’s unclear whether Dallas will make the call to elevate Vizcaino to the active roster to travel to San Francisco. They can make two elevations before game day.

This season for the Patriots and Cardinals, Vizcaino made two field goals and three extra points.

In 2021, he played six games for the Chargers, going 6-of-7 on field goals and 10-of-15 extra points. Vizcaino also played for the 49ers in 2020, making three field goals and two extra points.

Overall, he’s 91.7% on field goals and 75% on extra points.

Prior to Monday night’s win over Tampa Bay, Maher was 95.5% on extra points and he’s missed just three field goal attempts.