John Harbaugh remains confident in Justin Tucker amid disappointing season

John Harbaugh remains confident in Justin Tucker amid disappointing season

Father time is undefeated, and Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, 35, has been one of the disappointing kickers in the NFL this season despite being arguably the league’s best for the better part of the last decade.

For most of his career, Tucker has been automatic with a capital “A.” In 2024, he’s been anything but automatic. He’s converted on just 70.4 percent of his field goal attempts this year, including missing two field goals (47, 53 yards) and an extra point in Sunday’s 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Points were at a premium in the game, they have been for a few of these games. Sometimes we haven’t made the most of our opportunities to score points because you’re (missing) kicks,” Harbaugh said Monday. “And [Justin Tucker] expects to make every kick, no matter how far it is and what the situation is. And those are makable kicks for him.

“I’m very confident that it’s going to get fixed. I believe it will. It has to. And he’s the guy to get it fixed. So, sometimes you respect the player and you respect his ability to get it worked out.”

Harbaugh hinted that he wouldn’t completely rule out bringing in another kicker on the practice squad, but he also assured that he doesn’t think that will answer any sort of problems in the kicking game.

“I don’t think that’s the answer, knowing I’ve talked to [special teams coach Randy Miller] and the scouts, knowing who’s out there right now,” he said. “It’s not to say there aren’t guys capable, but there’s nobody nearly as good as Justin Tucker out there.”

"There's no body nearly as good as Justin Tucker out there," John Harbaugh on free agent kickers. Doesn't mean they won't entertain that idea during the bye and add someone to the practice squad potentially to "turn over every stone." pic.twitter.com/2RFcLkIqwP

— Morgan Adsit (@MorganAdsit) December 2, 2024

Tucker has as good of a track record as anyone, but the results haven’t been there. I don’t expect Tucker to leave seven points on the board like he did on Sunday, but I also don’t expect to see him quite near the level he’s been at for the past several years. Those days appear to be over, and it’s up to John Harbaugh and Co. to find a solution because special teams become all the more important once the calendar turns January.

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