Tyler Loop kept making kicks Thursday, but the Ravens still didn’t get the kind of answer they’re looking for.
The Baltimore kicker went a perfect 6-for-6 in the joint practice against the Minnesota Vikings, with his longest make coming from 53 yards. On paper, that’s the kind of day a team wants from a player trying to steady a shaky job. But there was a catch: according to reports, Minnesota wasn’t coming after Loop at full speed.
That matters because Loop’s biggest question has never been whether he can look good when things are calm. It’s whether he can hold up when the pressure rises.
Loop has been working through a turbulent stretch ever since the end of the 2025 campaign, and with Week 1 just a month away, the uncertainty around him hasn’t gone anywhere. He has put together a strong training camp and has been hitting kick after kick, trying to show Baltimore’s coaches he belongs. Thursday’s clean sheet was another step in that direction, even if it came with that obvious asterisk.
The Ravens were encouraged to see him bounce back from an uneven 2026 preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. Loop missed his first try there, pushing a 49-yarder wide right, before settling in with a made 42-yard attempt. Since then, he has been perfect in camp.
Still, the problem is that camp success hasn’t carried the same weight it once did. Loop had strong stretches in camp last year, too, and he’s been a regular standout again this summer.
But the issues from 2025 are hard to ignore. He was just 1-for-4 from 50-plus yards and missed in the biggest moment of the season on that Week 18 try.
That’s why the next test matters so much. Baltimore also saw Loop have his roughest day of camp at the University of Maryland, when he went 1-for-3. He did salvage the session with a clutch field goal that spared the team from push-ups, but the unevenness in front of larger crowds has remained part of the conversation.
Now he heads into Week 2 of preseason play against the Vikings with the spotlight getting brighter. The Ravens need his practice production to show up when it counts, and they want to see it in game action, not just in controlled settings.
If Saturday brings another shaky performance, the conversation around his future could get louder. Right now, he doesn’t have someone directly threatening his job. Baltimore hasn’t had that kind of pressure on him since 2025 undrafted kicker John Hoyland, who never made it to preseason last year.
Maybe that has to change. Maybe the Ravens need to bring in competition and force the issue.
Head coach Jesse Minter still believes in Loop, but he made it clear that belief only goes so far. At some point, it comes down to making the kicks when the moment arrives. That leaves Loop with a simple assignment against Minnesota: prove the camp work can survive the game.
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There is still the kicker spot to sort out, and the injury picture is adding its own pressure, with Danny Pinter likely headed for a season-ending setback. For younger players hoping to make their case, the next preseason game carries real weight, because these snaps are not just about showing up in camp, they are about whether there will be a place for them when the roster gets trimmed. [Read more 🡒]