The Ravens made their first official move to give veteran kicker Billy Cundiff some competition when they signed rookie Justin Tucker Tuesday.
But on Wednesday, Head Coach John Harbaugh made it clear that Cundiff is still the frontrunner to be the starting kicker.
"Billy obviously has the edge," Harbaugh said. "But, everybody is fighting for their job."
The Ravens brought in Tucker after he participated in an open tryout during rookie minicamp two weeks ago. He made some impressive kicks during the weekend minicamp, including a 55-yarder to end practice, and the expectation now is for Tucker to challenge Cundiff throughout the offseason.
"That's our plan," Harbaugh said. "Yeah, he has done nothing to make us think that he can't handle that competition. There is always competition."
A day after getting signed, Tucker says he's happy to be back in Baltimore with a chance to compete for a spot on the roster.
"It feels great to be back and keep chasing the dream," Tucker said. "I feel like all I can do is be me and just do what I do. I've put in a lot of hard work, a lot of training, a lot of mental focus into perfecting different aspects of my technique."
And while the two kickers will likely spend a lot of time competing against each other over the next several weeks, right now Tucker says they are just getting to know one another.
"We've just met," Tucker said. "It's been two days. We've said hello and that's about it."
The Ravens said after last season that they planned to bring in another kicker to push Cundiff throughout training camp. He will have to show he's moved past the way last season ended, where he missed a 32-yard game-tying field goal in the AFC championship loss to New England.
Cundiff addressed the media last week about the missed goal, saying that his confidence now is "as high as it's ever been," and he's focused on this season.
"It's all about moving forward," Cundiff said. "That's the big thing for me. I would have liked to have made that kick, but at the same time, it didn't happen.
"It's a learning experience and you just kind of put it where you put everything else."
