Kicker Misses Practice for Unusual Reason: Jury Duty

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey missed practice on Wednesday, and NBC Sports reports his absence was for a "potentially unprecedented injury-report designation." That would be jury duty, on a felony assault case that involves second-degree strangulation, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The paper notes that the Cowboys were going to try to help Aubrey get out of it, but Aubrey "insisted on fulfilling his duty" on Wednesday. Although it's not clear how long the case will last, it's anticipated Aubrey will also miss practice on Thursday and Friday so he can attend court proceedings in Tarrant County.

ESPN notes that if Aubrey had tried to get out his juror responsibilities, both sides and Judge David Hagerman would've had to agree to installing an alternate juror. On the plus side for Aubrey's game play, the case doesn't involve sequestering jurors, so he's free to do what he wants during the evenings and on weekends. It also appears Aubrey's jury duty won't affect his availability to play on Sunday against the 49ers in San Francisco. "Kudos to Aubrey for not shying away from an important civic function," writes Mike Florio for NBC. "Jury duty is critical to a properly functioning society." (More Dallas Cowboys stories.)