Fixing a kicking game that’s gone from a staple to an Achilles’ heel for the Baltimore Ravens is a problem rookie head coach Jesse Minter can only solve by helping Tyler Loop recover from the psychological impact of the missed kick that ended his debut season in the NFL by costing the Ravens a playoff spot.
Minter’s first step has been to recreate some pressure situations for Loop. Situations the history-making draft pick has handled well. Loop showed no signs of being haunted by the ghosts of Week 18’s ill-fated trip to the Pittsburgh Steelers when he converted from 40 yards to end the team’s mandatory minicamp on Wednesday, June 9.
The successful kick was an important landmark on Loop’s heavily scrutinized journey back from an already infamous moment. Minter stressed Loop making it all the way back will take time because kicker is “a process-driven position. You have to just be able to flush out bad things that happen. Trust your process. I thought he had a really good rookie year overall, but of course we’re judged by some of our biggest moments. We want to create opportunities for him to have these moments in front of people – in front of the team. To continue to have those opportunities, and certainly glad he knocked that one through,” per Around The NFL’s Nick Shook.
His note about creating more scenarios for Loop to kick under pressure outside of a game environment, shows the Ravens are committed to fostering the clutch gene within the sixth-round pick from the 2025 NFL draft. It will happen if Loop maintains the same outlook he’s had since missing the target from 44 yards against the Steelers.
Tyler Loop Ready to Turn the Page for Ravens
Loop has faced a critical early pivot in his pro career after becoming the focus for anger about the way last season ended for the Ravens. He revealed “the biggest thing that I did was acknowledge and accept it. It took a day or two. I would say moving on from the kick itself was pretty easy. Just because I know you’ve got to be ready for the next kick. You’ve got to be able to put it behind you. Confident in the process that I’ve developed. The biggest part in moving on was just letting the people I care about and the people that care about me know that I’m good.”
Looking to himself and those closest to him was a smart move by Loop. He can afford to trust his own self-belief after making 30 of 34 field goals as a rookie, before things went wrong in Pittsburgh.
Prior to this kick, Loop had been “perfect from inside 50 yards this year on field goal attempts. 7/7 from 40-49 yards,” according to Alex Barth of 98.5 The Sports Hub. Those were respectable numbers, but the bar has been set high for Ravens kickers.
Former undrafted free agent Justin Tucker became a seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time first-team All-Pro. The franchise’s first kicker, Matt Stover, earned both of those accolades as a key member of the 2000 Super Bowl-winning Ravens team.
An efficient kicking game has been a hallmark of the Ravens since inception, but Minter faces a challenge maintaining quality on special teams. Helping Loop up his game is only one part of that challenge.
Jesse Minter Facing Special Teams Overhaul
Overcoming uncertainty at kicker is just one way things are changing for the Ravens in football’s third phase. They also saw All-Pro Jordan Stout bolt in free agency to reunite with Harbaugh for the New York Giants.
Interestingly, the Ravens have taken the same approach to replacing Stout they took when moving on from Tucker. General manager Eric DeCosta used a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft to select Ryan Eckley.
The latter faces similar pressure maintaining high standards at a position long defined by consistency and excellence. Yet, Eckley isn’t the only rookie the Ravens will be looking to for fresh impetus on special teams.
Not when further change is obvious in the return game. The Ravens surprisingly allowed running back Keaton Mitchell to find a new home and take his joint-team leading 26.9 yards per kickoff return average with him to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Mitchell has vacated a spot this year’s dynamic fifth-rounder Adam Randall has the versatile skill-set to fill. Randall giving the return units a spark, while Eckley quickly makes the grade, will be a boost for Minter, but not as much as Loop continuing to prove he’s recovered from last season’s heartbreak.
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