David Buehler's days of kicking extra points and field goals for the Dallas Cowboys might be numbered -- for this season anyway.
Six days after Buehler missed an extra-point attempt in the final minutes of a 28-27 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Cowboys signed veteran Kris Brown. He could be used Sunday for the season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles.
A native of Southlake, Texas, Brown played three years for the Pittsburgh Steelers and then eight for the Houston Texans. He was released by the Texans in September and played a few games for the San Diego Chargers. He has made 77.3 percent of his field-goal tries over his career.
"Being from this area for most of my life and following this team and organization, I'm as excited as you can be," Brown told the Cowboys' official website Friday. "This is a good opportunity for me. I'm glad to get in here and see what happens."
Buehler remains valuable to the Cowboys as a kickoff specialist. He set a team record for touchbacks last season, although his boots have suffered this season with his added duties on PATs and field goals.
Buehler is 24 of 31 on field-goal attempts, including 4 of 7 from 30 to 39 yards.
The kicker said he believes the signing of Brown will have a positive effect.
"It'll be good," Buehler said. "It'll make me better, the competition. I was a little surprised, but hey, I don't make those decisions. I can only deal with them and control what I can control, which is putting the ball through the uprights. He's a good guy. He's been around for a while, so I can learn a lot about him."
Interim head coach Jason Garrett said that the Cowboys still have faith in Buehler, despite the erratic nature of his season.
"He obviously has a real strong leg. He's a talented guy," Garrett said. "He's obviously a good kickoff guy. He's proven he can make a number of long kicks. He's proven he can make some big kicks. He needs to improve his consistency, and he's working on that. Going forward, he's a guy that certainly will compete to be the kicker on this football team. We like what he's done. He certainly needs to improve, but we're excited about his future."
As for Brown, he has been through this drill before. He knows he can't concern himself with anything else other than doing his job when called upon.
"I learned a long time ago in this league that I'm going to worry about things that I have the ability to control, and that's my performance on the field, that's my behavior on and off the field," he said. "And I'm not going to worry about things I have no control over.
"I don't know what they're going to do and what decisions they'll make. All I can do is focus on my job and what I can do."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
