The Ravens are once again tinkering with their kicking situation after youngster Tyler Loop missed a 49-yard kick Sunday.
Head coach Jesse Minter spoke cryptically of his Loop’s status at his Monday press conference and was critical of his consistency and, according to a league source, the Ravens are signing veteran kicker Jake Moody back to the practice squad. Baltimore originally signed Moody to the practice squad late in the summer when Loop was missing kicks in preseason games. Loop had a chance to put the Ravens up two scored Sunday and his miss loomed large in a 13-10 loss at Cleveland.
Minter was loathe to couch it as a kicking competition at the time, though general manager Eric DeCosta framed it more in that regard. Loop did not do anything to lose the job once Moody came on board, and he reached a career pinnacle in Week 3 making a game-winning kick in Brazil from 56 yards and he has also made a 60-yard kick after kicking from distance proved to be a problem in his rookie year.
Loop entered this offseason under scrutiny after missed a 48-yard kick in Pittsburgh in Week 18 which knocked the Ravens out of the postseason and gave the Steelers the AFC North title. Minter was staunchly behind the kicker even as he missed kicks at M&T Bank Stadium throughout the preseason, and Moody’s time here was brief as the practice-squad spot went to more needy positions after Loop’s fast start.
"I think like any position — you're always looking at ways of how to impact the roster, how to impact improvement,” Minter said Monday of the kicker position. “So, that one would be no different."
Competition Returns
Moody has bounced around to three teams in his NFL career and was with Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle in Chicago last season. He finished last season strong and is a former second-round pick of the 49ers who has ties to Minter from their time together at the University of Michigan.
Loop’s issues this season are from 40-49 yards. He is just 2/5 on kicks of that distance and 10/13 overall on field goals, placing him outside the top 20 in the NFL. He has made all 16 extra points.
“Confronting issues and confronting problems is really what this whole thing's about,” Minter said, while also updating Lamar Jackson's injury status on Monday. “So, there have been a few times where it's not the end-of-a-game kick that everybody sees as a game winner, but there are kicks that take a lead from a two-score game to a three-score game a few games ago, or take that game from a one-score game to a two-score game, which, the way that game is going, is really, really critical.
“So, those are critical misses. There is a confidence level for how he prepares and how he practices and how he operates and how he strikes the ball, but at the same time, that position itself is completely results-driven.”
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