Cowboys' confidence in Bailey grows after he makes his first regular-season field goal

Dan Bailey got his chance to kick a first regular-season NFL field goal, and he made it.

The undrafted free agent made a 34-yard field goal late in the second quarter last week against the New York Jets. It gave the Cowboys confidence in him, but then, coach Jason Garrett has had confidence in him.

“He doesn’t have a lot of bad kicks. He hasn’t had a lot of bad kicks in games or in practice,” Garrett said. “So you feel good about that. Obviously, he’s an inexperienced guy, a rookie, a free agent. But having said all that, if you watch what he’s done, you feel good about what he’s done.”

Bailey was one of five kickers the Cowboys had in camp. He made kicks of 38 and 41 yards in the third preseason game to set himself apart from David Buehler, Shayne Graham and Dan Raynor (Kai Forbath never kicked because of injury).

“He’s just done a really nice job since he’s been here,” Garrett said. “Every opportunity we’ve given him in practice, in a preseason game, in some kind of a scrimmage, now in his first regular-season action. He’s a very consistent, level-headed guy. He knows what he wants to do as a kicker. He’s tery comfortable with his technique and goes and strikes the ball.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez