With punter Matt Bosher suffering from a groin injury, Matt Wile will punt, kickoff and hold for field goals for the Falcons (1-1) against the Colts (1-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“Injury-wise, the only one who can’t make it will be Bosher,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Friday. “He worked at it and tried to kick today full, but wasn’t able to. Hopefully, we’ll get him back next week.”
The Falcons signed Wile to the practice squad last week and added him to the 53-man roster Saturday, when they also released offensive lineman John Wetzel.
“I’m excited,” Wile said Friday. “I want to go out, do my best and help the team. Put some good work out there.”
After stints with the Falcons, Cardinals and Steelers, Wile won the Minnesota Vikings job in 2018.
“Before he got going, his first NFL kicking was here,” Quinn said. “The workout that he had (on Tuesday) was good.”
Wile, 27, punted in 16 games last season for the Vikings. On 72 punts, he booted the ball for 3,225 yards for an average of 45.2, which ranked 14th in the league. He had a long punt of 70 yards.
Wile’s net average of 41.5 yards was ninth in the league.
Bosher averaged 45.5 per punt last season, which ranked 10th in the league. He had a net average of 40.1, which ranked 15th.
“Regards to kickoffs, holds and punts, it’s just about getting reps with (long snapper) Josh (Harris) and kicker Matt (Bryant),” Wile said.
While Bosher’s status was up in the air until Friday, Wile prepared like he would play.
“I approach every practice like I’m going to be playing,” Wile said. “I just treat every practice like I am playing in the game so that every rep counts.”
Wile was with the Vikings through training camp. He made the initial 53-man roster but was released after the Vikings signed Britton Colquitt. Wile and Colquitt had similar punting numbers, but Colquitt was considered the better holder for field goals.
“Yes, I was a little surprised, but that’s the nature of the business,” Wile said.
The Falcons believe Wile can handle the holding duties.
“We trust him and we’re ready to go,” Quinn said.
Wile doesn’t have a lot of experience kicking off.
“I wasn’t doing it for the Vikings last year, but we worked on it in practice this offseason and (exhibition) season,” Wile said. “I feel good hitting them and whatever the coach calls in the game is what I’m going to do.”
Back in 2016, Wile, who played at Michigan, punted in one game for the Falcons. He hit a 58-yard punt on Nov. 27, 2016 against the Cardinals.
“I just want to go out and perform and do whatever we need,” Wile said.
Wile was called Monday around 12:45 p.m. and was on a plane by 3 p.m.
“I had a tryout recently, and I kind of just assumed that I’d have a tryout again, so I left the bag relatively packed,” Wile said. “It’s a great opportunity. As long as I can get back on the field, I want to do it any way that I can.”
Bosher suffered the injury in pregame warm-ups Sunday. Wide Receiver Mohamed Sanu practiced punting in warm-ups. Matt Bryant ended up taking over the kickoff duties against the Eagles.
In addition to Wile and offensive lineman Nate Wozniak, the Falcons reported tryouts with punter Sam Irwin-Hill, linebacker Robert McCray, cornerback Quenton Meeks, cornerback D.J. White, long snapper Nick Moore, defensive end Carroll Phillips and kicker Kaare Vedvik.
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