NFL: Justin Tucker, Patrick Mahomes situation happened before official team warm-up period
Sunday's bizarre pregame confrontation between Ravens kicker Justin Tucker and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (with an assist from Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce) happened too early to officially be a concern for the NFL.
According to the league, whatever occurred between Tucker and Mahomes/Kelce happened before the official warm-up period.
The rules cited in an October 18, 2023, memo to all teams regarding fighting on game day includes rules regarding "the Official Team Warm-Up Period." Among other things, teams must stay within their designated areas, within their own 45-yard lines.
That said, the October 18 memo mentions an exception for kickers and punters.
While it makes sense for kickers and punters to stray beyond their own 45-yard line to practice kicks and punts, Tucker's presence in the end zone where Mahomes was warming up, along with his helmet, footballs, and a device for holding balls in place for practicing kicks, didn't make much sense.
Tucker didn't have a kickoff tee. He had the device kickers use when practicing field goals on the sideline. So, by hanging out at the goal line where Mahomes was throwing passes, Tucker was either thinking about practicing 10-yard field goals — or 110-yard field goals.
Apparently, he was just stretching. He said Monday at his locker that he has always warmed up the same way and wasn’t trying to be problematic.
We'll take his word for it, because he never has been problematic, in any way. Still, given his proximity to Mahomes, it's hard to imagine that Tucker had never before gotten so close to players on the other team that they would have had an issue with it. Regardless, on Sunday, the Chiefs were ready to make it an issue.
They were ready, frankly, to make anything and issue. They know the Ravens can be bullies. The Chiefs apparently tried to out-bully the bullies and, in so doing, to push their buttons just enough to throw them off their game.
And it worked. The Ravens lacked discipline on multiple occasions during the game, as the Chiefs managed to get just enough under their skin to convert their intense desire to win the game into just enough of the rough stuff to draw five personal fouls, including two unnecessary roughness fouls, two roughing the passer penalties, and one instance of taunting.
