Earlier in the offseason, special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong said he felt punter Matt Bosher was the one player that was hurt the most last year by the lack of an offseason.
Bosher's rookie season as a kickoff specialist and punter didn't start the way he wanted to, but he found his way as the season progressed. Down the stretch last season, Bosher averaged more than 50 yards per punt in five of the final six games. The one game he didn't accomplish the 50-yard average, he netted a 47.8 average.
This year, with the benefit of the offseason, Bosher feels like he can avoid some of the early-season struggles.
"Last year, I didn't start the way I wanted," he said. "It's a new year. I had a good, long offseason this year. I had OTAs and minicamp. I got a lot of work done here. Coach Armstrong has really done a lot, dedicating his time to help me get better. He's trying to help me succeed this year."
While they're not clear-cut goals, Bosher and Armstrong are striving to reach that 50-yard punt average in every game and force as many touchbacks as possible on kickoffs. While Bosher has complete faith in his coverage teams, he wants to stay consistent and pin teams back like he did to close 2011.
"I'm trying to get a good ball (on kickoffs)," he said. "If I hit a good ball, I know it'll go back in the end zone. It's just trying to be calm and stay nice and smooth and hit the ball."
As is the case with so many aspects of football, Bosher compares the punting game to making a soup with numerous ingredients. The ingredients he's using he feels good about and his confidence is growing as a punter in the league.
"I'm trying to get fair catches, trying to keep the ball outside," he said. "The returners in this league are very good. There are a lot of ingredients. It's like making a good soup. You've got a bunch of ingredients and put it all together and you'll make something good. It took me a couple of games to get into that stride and get everything put together. The end of the season last year and into this season, I feel like I've been able to put all those ingredients and it's really coming together."
