Ravens Notebook: K Justin Tucker riding momentum as regular season nears
The biggest kick of Baltimore Ravens rookie Justin Tucker's young career ended a historic college football rivalry.
With time expiring, Tucker hit a game-winning 40-yard field goal to help Texas defeat Texas A&M 27-25.
There wasn't a kick closer to defining Tucker's Texas legacy than that. But you don't hear about the glory days of college when he speaks about the kick.
"Going back and looking at it on film, I probably left it a couple yards shorter of where I would usually want to hit it," Tucker said. "Even on one of the bigger kicks in my career, I'm trying to find a way to get better."
That perfectionist attitude is one of many factors that led to Ravens coach John Harbaugh and the front office choosing the rookie over veteran K Billy Cundiff.
Cundiff kicked well in training camp, routinely making kicks inside of 50 yards. But Tucker showed better consistency and longer range. In Baltimore's third preseason game against Jacksonville, Tucker, who handled all kicking duties, hit a 53-yard field goal with a lot of room to spare.
The rookie had a knack for being clutch in college, never missing a fourth-quarter kick. He also handled kickoff and punting duties, and even had 24 career tackles on special teams.
A case can be made that it's risky for an AFC contender to choose a rookie over a veteran kicker. But the Ravens' decision was indicative of how good Tucker's been this preseason.
"If you can make this decision this week, you want to do it because you want to get your kicker another week with the team as the guy before you go into the regular season and do that," Harbaugh said.
To date, Tucker hasn't experienced anything quite like Cundiff did following his 32-yard miss at the end of the AFC Championship against New England. He's hoping it stays that way.
"I was fortunate enough not to have anything catastrophic happen (at Texas)," Tucker said. "Knock on wood, we will continue that. That's just part of this business and part of really any football player's mentality. You just have to be able to bounce back from whatever."
Not ready yet: Harbaugh said TEs Ed Dickson (shoulder) and Dennis Pitta (hand) will not participate in the Ravens' fourth preseason game against St. Louis. Both players participated in practice Monday but aren't ready for game action.
Olympic visitor: Eighteen-time gold medalist Michael Phelps attended Baltimore's practice and spoke to the team. Phelps is a Baltimore native and longtime Ravens fan.
Kindle 'not a lock': Harbaugh was asked if OLB Sergio Kindle has done enough to earn a roster spot this season.
"No, he's not a lock," Harbaugh said. "But he's done really well, and this (St. Louis) game will be important for him."
Injury report: WR Tommy Streeter (left foot), S Sean Considine (two concussions), LB Ricky Brown (hip), LB Josh Bynes (vertebrae), RG Marshal Yanda (knee) and OL Jah Reid (calf) missed practice. Kindle (shoulder stinger) participated in practice without a red noncontact jersey, which he had been wearing since suffering the injury in Baltimore's second preseason game against Detroit.
Follow Ravens reporter Jason Butt on Twitter: @CBSSportsNFLBAL and @JasonButtCBS.
