OXNARD, Calif. -- Last year, Brandon Aubrey was the new guy -- from a different league, a different sport, known by only a few people within the Dallas Cowboys' organization -- looking to win the kicking job.
He kept his head down and was mostly quiet.
"Last year, definitely a ball of stress," Aubrey said. "Just kind of going about my job and don't really know -- I haven't done it before -- and I'm not sure exactly what I'm supposed to look like at this level. Just kind of always on my toes, thinking, 'Am I doing this right? Am I at the meeting early enough? Am I in bed soon enough?'
"So just kind of every little thing, every decision I was making, there were a lot of nerves in it, and it probably doesn't need to be that much."
This summer, the stress is gone. He's no longer the kicker from the USFL and former first-round pick by Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.
He's a Pro Bowl kicker, looking to repeat what was a record-setting season.
"The nerves are on the field when I'm kicking," he said, "but other than that, it's kind of a nice, relaxing time."
So comfortable are the Cowboys with Aubrey in 2024 that coach Mike McCarthy contemplated giving him a try at a 72-yard field goal in the preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
"Bones wasn't feeling it," McCarthy said of special teams coordinator John Fassel.
But a few plays later, he ran Aubrey out for a 65-yard try that was just a bit wide and maybe a hair short.
"He's got incredible range," McCarthy said. "We just have great confidence in him."
Aubrey led the NFL with 157 points in 2023. He made 36 of 38 field goal attempts, including an NFL-record 35 straight to open his career. He set another NFL record with 99 touchbacks and set Cowboys' records in field goals made, points and field goals made from 50 yards or more (10).
And to think, Aubrey started last summer behind Tristan Vizcaino in the kicking contest.
It wasn't until the third week of camp where the Cowboys felt it was time to make Aubrey their kicker.
"Anytime you have the opportunity to ... stand behind a kicker and watch the kicks, I know my impression [was] the way the ball jumped off his foot," McCarthy said. "He was clearly different than the other guy. And, let's be honest, you're always counting reps, moreso than ever in these training camps because the work together [is so limited], so I just felt in my opinion, let's go with the young guy because the talent was very evident."
Aubrey showed up to training camp last year a little "fatigued," because he was a few weeks removed from his season with the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL. This year, after having his appendix removed following the Pro Bowl, Aubrey was ordered by Fassel to take time off in the offseason.
"Last year I was always concerned about, 'When is the guy going burn out or get inured just based on amount of kicking he was doing,'" Fassel said. "But he's strong."
The kickoff rules changes this year will also help Aubrey. No longer will he have to take long runs up and use his force to hit a touchback. Now he can take two- or three-step run-ups to hit different types of kickoffs.
"You have a few different golf clubs out there to hit," Aubrey said. "Now I'm not just going out and smashing the [proverbial golf] driver on kickoff all the time."
In addition to hitting 6-irons or pitching wedges, Aubrey can go back to his soccer days, hitting free kicks on kickoffs.
"A lot of kickers, myself included, practice doing the exact same thing the exact same way over and over and over again. You go out and master that," he said. "But to be able to go out there and hit the ball a different way, maybe with the outside of your foot or the inside of your foot, hit the ball in different spots, I think that's going to be important on kickoff where guys that want to go out and hit varied balls for different looks."
Aubrey's biggest job will be continuing to make field goals, like last year.
"How do you beat [going 36-for-38]? I don't know if you can beat it because you've got to go 38-for-38 or 37-of-38," Fassel said. "But he didn't have a game-winner necessarily. There wasn't playoff-pressure kicks. I think maybe that's the next step, hitting a ball when there's four seconds left and we're tied or behind, but I don't think there's going to be any concern about it. It's just having to do it."
As Aubrey enters his second season, the nerves are gone, and in a way, so are his record-setting numbers.
"I don't know if I'm even going to worry about what I did last year at this point." Aubrey said. "I'm zero-for-zero this year, [so] just go out there and try to make one kick at a time, keep that same mentality that I need to earn my job each and every week."