Drawing from his experience as a great kicker, Justin Tucker is keeping his thoughts in a good place.
The most accurate kicker in NFL history is off to an uncharacteristic start, missing a field goal in each of the Ravens' first three games. It's the first time in 13 seasons that he's ever missed a field goal in three straight games.
The 46-yarder that Tucker missed in Sunday's 28-25 victory over the Dallas Cowboys is the type of kick he's made routinely throughout his career. As a perfectionist with great pride in his craft, Tucker is working hard to fix the problem.
"On the three that I've let get away, I just turned a little bit too much on the ball," Tucker said. "I didn't finish directly at my target line. I made the same error, which is highly correctable, but I made the same error a couple of times. That's on me, as simply as I can put it. I know what I need to do to fix it."
After Tucker's miss on Sunday, he watched helplessly from the sideline as Baltimore's lead shrunk from 28-6 to 28-25. Quarterbacks, linebackers, and other position players can often make amends for a mistake on the very next play. But in the lonely life of a kicker, waiting for the next chance takes much longer, and Tucker must wait until Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills for his next possible opportunity.
"To put it bluntly, it's excruciating," Tucker said. "It's a horrible feeling. But at the exact same time, you have to be able to lean into that feeling and recognize that it's temporary and whenever I get my next opportunity, I'll do everything I can to just make the most of it."
Tucker has plenty of success to lean on. He's a seven-time Pro Bowler who has made 400 of 446 career attempts, including an NFL-record 66-yarder to beat the Detroit Lions in 2021. He already has a Pro Football Hall of Fame resume and Super Bowl ring, and he believes his mental toughness will help him get back on track.
The swag and confidence that Tucker has long possessed remains intact.
"I think one of my greatest assets is my mind," Tucker said. "I'm able to compartmentalize for the most part, move onto the next one, and make the most of my next opportunity.
"You have to be your own harshest critic if you want to take greatness from inside of you and put it on display for the world. That's really how I think about it."
One of Tucker's most shocking misses came in 2018 when he missed an extra point against the New Orleans Saints that would have tied the game with 24 seconds left. It was the first extra point he ever missed. He hit 16 straight field goals after that and all of his extra points the rest of the season.
Tucker credited holder Jordan Stout and long snapper Nick Moore for the job they've done in the field goal process. Tucker is taking the blame for his misses. He appreciates all the encouragement and support he's gotten from teammates and coaches and knows they all have his back.
He plans to repay them by returning to top form.
"I think how everyone in the organization has been speaks to how close we are as a team," Tucker said. "My job is to essentially reward everybody with something tangible, and that's points on the board. I take it really personally when I fail to do so.
"I have experience dealing with adversity and coming out on the other side of it not just returning to form. I want to reward our defense for getting stops, rewarding our offense for moving the ball down the field. I plan on contributing in a very significant way to our team putting games away like we've done many times before and like we plan on doing in the future."
