Cowboys' kicker shut down for year

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys placed kicker David Buehler on injured reserve Thursday because of a right groin injury, ending his season.

The move came a day after Buehler re-aggravated the injury in practice. The kickoff specialist had been back for only two games after missing the previous four.

"We felt like it was important for us to give him a chance to come back and kick, so we were very patient with him," coach Jason Garrett said. "I'm not so sure that he was completely healthy."

After Buehler was limited in training camp by the injury, rookie Dan Bailey took over kicking field goals. Bailey has made 20 of 21 attempts, including his last 19 in a row for a Cowboys rookie record.

Buehler, a third-year player from Southern California, was 24 of 32 on field goals last season, when he had 22 touchbacks on kickoffs. He led the NFL with 29 touchbacks as a rookie in 2009, and had nine on 18 kickoffs this season.

While Garrett liked having the kickoff specialist, the team just didn't feel like Buehler would have time to get fully healthy this season.

"We just feel like it's going to take him much too long to come back," Garrett said. "Start factoring in how long he's going to be out, how many games we've got left, we felt like that was the best decision for our team."

Dallas also re-signed guard Daniel Loper, who had just been released Saturday.