KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - There’s an in-season kicking battle happening at the Chiefs Training Facility - sort of.
Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub reaffirmed his confidence in Harrison Butker keeping his job as their starting kicker on Thursday.
“He’s our kicker,” Toub said firmly at the podium.
But it seems the Chiefs decided Butker is in need of an extra push, He’s missed five field goal attempts and one extra point attempt so far through six games.
So the team worked out three kickers earlier this week, and ended up signing former Baltimore Ravens All-Pro Justin Tucker to their practice squad.
ADVERTISEMENT
Toub said he’s already seen Tucker’s presence have the desired impact on Butker’s game.
“He [Butker] went 10-for-10 yesterday, with Tucker standing right there. And he went 10-for-10 on a windy day. It was 28-mile an hour gusts yesterday, and he went 10-for-10,” said Toub.
Tucker’s 13-year tenure in Baltimore ended when the team released him in May of 2025. He then spent the 2025 season without a team, as he served a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Sixteen Baltimore-area massage therapists accused Tucker of sexual misconduct, as reported by the Baltimore Banner.
[ Chiefs rookie misses practice with shoulder issue as Kansas City prepares for Broncos ]
“Coach [Andy Reid] covered that yesterday, I’m not gonna go there with that. My job is to get the best players on the field,” Toub said.
Like Butker is now, Tucker had been struggling in his kicking game in both 2023 and 2024.
ADVERTISEMENT
Of the kickers they brought in, they decided to go with Tucker because Toub heard he’d made a big improvement in his time away from the league.
“I’ve heard he’s been out making the rounds, and we talk. All the special teams coaches talk. He had four workouts before we brought (him in) — we were his fifth workout, tryout. And the word was that he was hitting the ball great, and I wanted to see it,” he said.
Tucker impressed in his tryout in Kansas City. Toub said he made it a grueling tryout for all the kickers, highlighted by seven kicks over 50 yards, and one over 60.
“He made every kick, and not only did he make them, he was accurate. 60% of his kicks were inside of a six-foot cylinder in the middle of the uprights. Somebody that’s struggling as a kicker is not able to put the ball with that kind of accuracy in 30 kicks. So, he was off the charts good.”
Butker and Tucker had their first practice together on Wednesday.
“Yesterday was unbelievable, those two guys,” said Toub. “They were talking, they were talking about issues, they were talking about ‘how did you handle it, blah blah blah’, and it’s been great. They’re professionals; both of them are professionals.”
The expectation is still that Butker will be the Chiefs’ kicker in Denver on Sunday.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.