In all, Aubrey is focusing on the things he can control, and his control of “dirty balls” — as the type of kicks are called at the NFL level — will be paramount in helping to establish field position in favor of the Cowboys defense, as much so as in any other contest.
And mastering them is something that hasn’t come easy, regardless of how easy the three-time Pro Bowler makes it look.
“Lots of experimentation, and kicking the ball in a lot of different ways,” Aubrey explained. “Football is a funny thing. It’s a weird shape. So even with the form I’m using, if I mis-hit it even a little bit … I try to live in a world where there’s probably three different balls I can hit: one goes long, one is the perfect dirty ball, and then the one that would be short of the landing zone.”
Time will tell how the controllables and so many different (and first-time) variables mix when it comes time for Aubrey to swing his legendary right foot, but he’s as calm as ever about it all, and that’s right on brand for a player who is never too up or too down.
Aubrey lives right in the middle of those two extremes, at all times.
“I’ll get out to the stadium, take into account what’s going on and adjust from there,” he said. “Every stadium’s kinda unique, so I’ll just [see] when I get there.”