Ravens Coach Preaches 'Football Decision' on Tucker

The Baltimore Ravens were thrust into uncertainty on special teams when kicker Justin Tucker was accused of sexual misconduct by several Baltimore-area massage therapists.

The Ravens have not yet moved on from the kicker, and have remained adamant that they will wait for the NFL to conclude its investigation before making any significant moves regarding Tucker’s future.

For now, Baltimore has been left in the dark, as is customary with league investigations. Once the league reaches its decision, the team can act.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh recently explained the basis for any looming Tucker decision, describing them as football-based until the NFL investigation suggests otherwise.

“As you know, Justin’s been in the building the last couple of weeks kicking and everything,” Harbaugh said, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN. “Got a chance to talk a little bit. I would just say, from the standpoint of the investigation and all that, we don’t know anything. We haven’t been given any information. As it should be, it’s all done the way it’s done. We don’t know anything along those lines, so we can’t make any decision based on that. Every decision we make has to be made on football.”

In the meantime, Baltimore has added some insurance. With the 10th pick of the sixth round, the Ravens picked Arizona kicker Tyler Loop. He’ll be the frontrunner to replace Tucker should the investigation reveal that the accusations against Tucker merit discipline.

Tucker has denied the allegations.

While unlikely, it remains possible that Loop simply wins the job, making good on the football decision Harbaugh described. Tucker is coming off the worst year of his career. He made a disastrous 73.3 percent of his field goal attempts (especially compared to his all-time best career average of 89.1 percent). He also missed more field goals between 40 and 49 yards than he had in any other season.

As such, Tucker’s decline could happen to coincide with these accusations. With his track record, though, it would be a surprise if Tucker was deemed innocent and Loop won the job.

As for the Baltimore faithful, there is little to do. The Ravens aren’t going to act without having all the information, and they aren’t going to put themselves at a disadvantage by separating him from the team. They acquired insurance in the form of a rookie kicker, but the fate of the unit still lies in the hands of the NFL.