Joey Slye isn’t talking about breaking an NFL record. He’s talking about shattering it.

Slye and the Tennessee Titans visit the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on Sept. 7 (3:05 p.m. CT, FOX). Denver’s thin air is famously accommodating for big-legged kickers who, per Titans special teams coordinator John Fassel, get an extra 5 yards added to their regular range because of the elevation. And Slye’s regular range is impressive as is. Slye nailed a 63-yard kick in the preseason, a distance he also hit from in the regular season in 2024.

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But kickers don’t stop measuring kicks when they cross the uprights. Reflecting on the kick he made in the preseason, Slye remembers the ball hitting the netting behind the goalpost while it was still above the crossbar. That means the kick likely would’ve been good from another 10 yards of distance. And that was in Nashville air, not up in the Rockies.

“So in Denver,” Slye concluded with slight twinge of irony on his breath, “it might be good from 78 or 79.”

The NFL regular season record for longest kick is 66 yards by Justin Tucker for Baltimore in 2021. Earlier this preseason, Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little connected from 70 yards.

There’s a fundamental difference, of course, between being able to connect from 78 yards and playing for a team that’s willing to attempt it. If the Titans miss a 78-yard field goal, the Broncos would get the ball on the Titans’ 32-yard line, already in pretty safe field goal range themselves.

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“So gosh, if it’s the middle of the second quarter and we get stuck on the 44-yard line, do we go for a 62-yarder just in the normal course of a game?” Fassel asked himself. “Where it’s a no-brainer at the end of half or end of a game, but of course the risk on a miss is the field position. So that’ll be something we’ll have to figure out in pregame warmups and as we go through the week just kind of get a sense of the risk-reward. End of half, end of game range, I think you’re looking at just get to the 50. A 68-yarder is probably within most NFL kickers’ range in Denver if the conditions are equal going both directions.”

Slye’s idea of “testing his leg” in pregame warmups is pretty standard. He moves backwards in 5-yard increments until his long snapper gets to the 40-yard line, lining him up for a 57-yard kick. After that, he’ll try one more kick from a little farther back, anywhere from 60 to 62 yards from the crossbar. If that kick is good, he makes note of how much extra distance he had and estimates his range kicking that direction. If it’s short, he makes note too. Then he repeats the process going toward the other goalpost and makes more notes.

It’s not about maxing out. It’s not about kicking until you miss. It’s about knowing your own range.

ESTES: My biggest question for Tennessee Titans in 2025: Is the worst over?

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“To be honest with the way I feel and the way I’m hitting, it doesn’t really matter where we’re at right now,” Slye said. “As long as you give me an opportunity from some distance, I feel like I can make it.”

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Justin Tucker’s NFL record in jeopardy as Joey Slye, Titans head to Denver