Chris Boswell was back at the Pittsburgh Steelers' facility on Thursday, a day after the team brought in veteran kickers Kai Forbath and Matt McCrane for an open tryout. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler is reporting that, despite keeping Forbath overnight, the Steelers are sticking with Boswell for Sunday's game against the New England Patriots.
Boswell isn't losing his job, but the Steelers still brought in a "new" kicker. On Thursday Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Steelers are bringing back Shaun Suisham to work with Boswell, who has missed six field goals and five extra points through 13 games this season. With Suisham by his side, Boswell reportedly had a good day of practice on Thursday, making 9 of his 10 field goal attempts.
"Any kicker-to-kicker is helpful," special teams coach Danny Smith said when asked about the addition of Suisham to Pittsburgh's special team's staff, via The Athletic's Mark Kaboly. "Kicker-to-kicker, sportswriter to sportswriter, coach to coach, trainer to trainer, equipment guy to equipment guy, right? They share general information and had similar experiences"
Boswell, in all likelihood, wouldn't be the Steelers' kicker today if not for a career-ending injury that Suisham -- Pittsburgh's kicker from 2010-14 -- sustained during Pittsburgh's preseason opener back in 2015. Playing on the terrible surface at the (pre renovated) Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Suisham sustained his season -- and career ending -- ACL injury that forced the Steelers to sign two other kickers before Boswell become the team's longterm solution after he won an open tryout four weeks into the 2015 regular season.
Boswell, who was signed by the Steelers after winning an open tryout at Heinz Field four games into the 2015 season, feels comfortable in the underdog role that he currently finds himself in.
Despite his teammate's recent struggles, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger still believes in Boswell.
