IRVING, Texas — Nick Folk’s fifth straight game with a missed field goal might be his last for a while for the Dallas Cowboys.

Folk and kickoff specialist David Buehler said they were preparing to share field-goal attempts during practice Tuesday, an indication the job is up for grabs with the season slipping away.
“I’ve been told from people, from upper-management, I should go out there and start warming up and start kicking and stuff,” Buehler said before the workout. “Nick’s the field goal kicker as of now. It’s his job to lose, but I’m going to push him and compete.”
Folk has missed six of his last nine kicks headed into Saturday night’s game at New Orleans. His eight misses this season are more than he had his first two years combined.
Although he had offseason hip surgery, Folk said his health is fine. He doesn’t have any specific reason for his problems, saying something different goes wrong every time.
He understands that coaches and teammates “probably are questioning (me) right now,” but he’s trying to remain confident. Coaches tried boosting him last week by giving him a new holder — quarterback Tony Romo. Folk made his first kick with Romo, then shanked a 42-yarder.
“You’ve just got to know that you can do it, then tell yourself you can do it and go out there and do it again,” Folk said.
Buehler was drafted in the fifth round specifically to boom kickoffs, and he’s done that with 21 touchbacks. He hasn’t attempted a single field goal this season but was 26 of 33 in two years at Southern California.
“Eventually, to have longevity in this league, I need to be able to kick field goals,” Buehler said. “I’m not going to be a kickoff specialist my whole career. So I need to fine-tune that and be able to be a reliable field-goal kicker.”
Buehler said he’s been kicking a few field goals in practice, but not many and not as seriously as he needs to now. His form needs fine-tuning.
“Most of all, it’s mental,” he said. “I mean, going out there and getting back into that rhythm and doing the consistent motion every single time. ... I’m going to be there if need be. Who knows when they’ll need me, if they’ll need me at all.”