Justin Tucker was the best kicker in the NFL for the better part of a decade, but this year he has been one of the worst. The Ravens are not, however, thinking of replacing him.
That’s the word from Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who said today that his team is not even considering bringing in other kickers to compete for Tucker’s job, despite Tucker going 1-for-3 on field goals in Sunday’s 18-16 loss to the Steelers.
“No, no, there’s no thought to that,” Harbaugh said. “The best option right now is to get Justin back on point. Because he’s fully capable of doing it, certainly haven’t lost any confidence in Justin Tucker. You saw that on the 54-yarder we sent him out for, and he drilled it. That’s the Justin Tucker that he wants to see and we all want to see on every kick. He’s definitely our best option, and he’s going to make a lot of kicks, I really believe that, going forward. But it’s up to him. It’s up to him and the guys he works with every day to make those balls go straight. Competition right now, at this time, no, that’s not something we want for Justin. We’ve just got to compete to get better and make those kicks.”
Tucker, who will turn 35 on Thursday, is having the worst season of his career, having made just 72.7 percent of his field goals. It’s hard to believe Harbaugh hasn’t lost any confidence in Tucker, but at this point in the season the Ravens are probably stuck with Tucker simply because of the lack of better options available.