The Steelers are at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, informally known as the South Side facility, now into the regular season. It’s where they otherwise train all year round, and the facility that Burt Lauten insists everybody refers to by its full name.
There are still unsettled questions that need answering, even deep into the regular season. They entered the process with questions in the starting lineup, in the scheme, and elsewhere, but new problems always arise that need to be resolved.
Even questions about who’s starting and when may not have satisfactory answers in their finality, as midseason changes are certainly quite possible, for some positions more than others. We’re also feeling out how the new coordinator posts—or posts in new contexts—end up playing out.
There’s never any shortage of questions when it comes to football, and we’ll be discussing them here on a daily basis for the community to “talk amongst yourselves”, as Linda Richman might say on Coffee Talk.
Question: Will Chris Boswell end up on the Reserve/Injured List?
The Steelers released outside linebacker Ryan Anderson on Tuesday in what most assumed would be a prelude to the team activating T.J. Watt from the Reserve/Injured List yesterday. Nobody, however, was activated (including safety Damontae Kazee, who has to be activated today).
That roster spot was instead filled by kicker Matthew Wright, who has had a couple of stints with the team before, filling in for Chris Boswell while he dealt with injuries. Well, that’s why he’s here again, evidently. His brother Tweeted out (and then deleted) that he was due to get an MRI on his injured groin to determine if he was going to be “out long term”, as he put it.
If he is going to miss extended time, perhaps due to requiring surgery, then obviously the Reserve/Injured List comes into play. Players must miss at least four games if placed on the list based on the 2022 revisions to the rule, so if that does happen, it would mean that Wright is the Steelers’ kicker for at least the next four games.
Statistically among the most accurate kickers in NFL history, Boswell has only gone 12-for-16 so far this season with three of his misses coming from 40-plus, including one from 50-plus. He has made five field goals of 50-plus yards this year, the second-most of his career after going 8-for-9 from that range just last season.
He is by far the Steelers’ leading scorer on the season with 45 total points. Running back Najee Harris is in second place with 18 points, with one rushing touchdown and two receiving touchdowns. Quarterback Kenny Pickett with 12 points on two rushing touchdowns is the only other player with double-digit points scored for Pittsburgh. Kicker Nick Sciba, who filled in for Boswell in the game before the bye, is in fourth place with seven points (two field goals and an extra point).
