Quick Kicks

Nightmare in Jersey

It appears another concussion might be the only way to knock quarterback Troy Aikman out of the Dallas lineup.

How else could coach Dave Campo justify allowing Aikman to finish Sunday’s embarrassing performance against the Giants? Even Aikman labeled it as the worst game of his 12-year pro career after he tied a club record with five interceptions in the 19-14 loss in East Rutherford, N,J.

“I’ve never had a day like this, where I had five interceptions,” said Aikman, who began the afternoon when his errant pass was picked off by cornerback Jason Sehorn. “It started out with the first play of the game, and I got progressively worse as the game went along. I take full responsibility for this loss.”

“Troy is our guy,” insisted Campo. “I felt we had the best chance to win with him. He just had a rough day today and some of the things were beyond his control. I thought he did some good things as well. I think our team has confidence in Troy.”

Campo implied that veteran backup Randall Cunningham will remain on the bench next week against Arizona.

Any volunteers?

St. Louis Rams didn’t have a contingency plan when kicker Jeff Wilkins was injured on the opening kickoff Sunday.

“To be honest with you, we were unprepared for that one,” Rams coach Mike Martz said. “We didn’t have a back-up kicker. Not anybody that we had worked with in practice. That’s my fault. Shoot, I didn’t think about that.” Martz was forced to ask for volunteers. Wide receiver Chris Thomas stepped forward.

“Chris said, `I used to kick soccer-style.’ I said, Well, give it a try,”’ Martz said.

Thomas was a kicker and backup punter in high school.

“It has been a long, long time,” Thomas said. “I really didn’t know what to expect out there. I was just praying to the Lord to give me a little peace of mind and just hit the ball so I could at least help my teammates.”

Thomas had never kicked off in a game, but he did it five times.

“I was just the backup punter, and I kicked a couple of field goals and PATs,” Thomas said.

Starring role

Respect can be very difficult to attain. Just ask Darnell Autry.

A couple of years ago, Autry quit his pursuit of an NFL career to try his hand at acting. A Hollywood director took one look at the 5-foot-10, 210-pounder and said that he didn’t look much like a football player or an actor.

Sunday afternoon, Autry got another crack at respect. He became the starter at running back after the Eagles sent out a casting call for someone - or several someones - to fill the immense cleats of Duce Staley, who was out for the season after undergoing foot surgery.

Twenty carries, 64 yards and one touchdown later, Autry might have earned the respect and, more important, the confidence of his teammates.

“I don’t know,” he said after the Eagles defeated the Arizona Cardinals 33-14. “I hope so. If I have, I want to keep that respect. If not, then it’s a challenge for me to earn it.”

They said it …

“The media was putting a lot of pressure on me. I needed to get off by myself and figure out what I was doing wrong… . I figured it out. I was kicking on the snap. That’s why I was missing.” Oakland placekicker Sebastian Janikowski on his early-season woes.