Ask Steelers cornerback Brandon Boykin why he isn’t playing any defense for the team and he’s likely to ask the same question in reply.
Why isn’t he playing?
Boykin, acquired in a trade from Philadelphia one week into training camp by the Steelers for a fifth-round draft pick has logged just 12 defensive snaps all season, including none in the past three games.
“If I had the answers, you wouldn’t be asking me,” Boykin said. “I’d love to be playing, but it’s out of my control. I can’t come in every day with that type of attitude. I’ve got to continue to work and keep a positive mindset. At any moment, I could be in. I don’t make any type of decisions. I just roll with it and control my attitude and practice my butt off for whenever it is.”
He could get his shot Sunday when the Steelers (4-2) play at Kansas City (1-5).
Starter Antwon Blake has a thumb injury on his left hand that kept him out of practice Wednesday. His hand has been placed in a cast.
If Blake is unable to play, Boykin could see his most extensive action for the Steelers since Sept. 20 against San Francisco. In that game, the 5-9, 182-pound fourth-year cornerback was on the field for 11 defensive plays.
Boykin was acquired when second-round draft pick Senquez Golson arrived at training camp with a shoulder injury and placed on injured reserve.
Despite his experience, Boykin wasn’t the Steelers’ starting nickel cornerback, his primary role in the previous three seasons with the Eagles. That job went to Cortez Allen.
When Boykin didn’t play in the opener – the first time in his career that Boykin didn’t log a defensive snap in an NFL game – he approached the coaching staff about his status.
With Allen out against San Francisco with a knee issue, Boykin was in line for an increased role but he tweaked a muscle in his leg in a Monday practice. With Boykin hurting, Ross Cockrell, signed after being released by Buffalo, stepped into the nickel cornerback spot and hasn’t relinquished.
Boykin hasn’t spoken to the coaching staff again about his role.
“Not recently,” he said. “It’s not going to do me any good to keep sitting here, wondering. You can’t. It’s out of your control. If he were to say, ‘You’re going to play,’ and I was thinking about that all week and then I don’t play, that’s just maddening.”
Boykin’s lack of playing time also is befuddling for some fans. When the Steelers acquired Boykin, they touted his ball-hawking skills as a key addition to a pass defense that hadn’t recorded more than 11 interceptions in a season since 2010.
Boykin tied for second in the NFL in interceptions in 2013 with six and had been Philadelphia’s nickel cornerback since his rookie season.
Kansas City’s Andy Reid was the head coach in Philadelphia when the Eagles drafted Boykin. He knows all about the diminutive but hard-nosed player’s ability.
“Brandon is feisty, he’s quick, a tough-minded kid,” said Reid. “Not the biggest guy, but he makes up for it with his grit.”
Grit hasn’t been something that’s been missing from the Steelers’ secondary.
While Pittsburgh ranks 26th in pass defense, it also has five interceptions, including one each by Blake and Cockrell. More importantly, the Steelers are fifth in points allowed per game.
Boykin would love nothing more than to get a shot at playing against Reid and former teammates such as Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.
But the decision isn’t up to him.
“I’ve got a lot of former teammates from both the Eagles and college out there,” he said. “Whenever I’m playing special teams or whatever, it will be cool to go against some of the guys I grew up playing with and played with in Philly.”
