Patriots captain Matthew Slater still supporting Stephen Gostkowski from afar

Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater is accustomed to seeing Stephen Gostkowski hit game-winners.

It’s the uniform Gostkowski wears as he does it nowadays that Slater must adjust to.

In his second game kicking for the Titans last weekend, Gostkowski hit a 49-yarder to edge the Jaguars with less than two minutes left. It was a rebound performance for the former Patriot, who went a dismal 1-for-4 in his Week 1 debut with Tennessee. The Pats released Gostkowski this offseason after a hip injury ended his 2019 season prematurely, and they planned on drafting his successor.

The 36-year-old has now made half of his six field goal attempts and 4-of-6 extra points.

“He’s someone who really showed me the ropes here, him and Larry Izzo kind of showed me how to be a pro. So I’m very thankful for my time with Stephen,” said Slater, who called Gostkowski a close friend. “I played 12 years with him, I’ll always be rooting for him — whether it’s as a Tennessee Titan or just a dad coaching his sons. He’ll always have a fan in me.”

The Patriots and Titans are not scheduled to meet this season.

Nick Folk, the Pats’ current kicker, is 1-for-3 on the season after missing one kick each of the past two weeks. Fifth-round rookie Justin Rohrwasser remains on the practice squad after a subpar training camp.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/32UnPRs