The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in a peculiar situation at kicker, one they haven’t been in for a long time. After K Harrison Butker missed two kicks in Week 7’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Chiefs brought in competition.

Kansas City signed former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to the practice squad. Tucker is known as one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, but he also comes with his fair share of off-field baggage. The decision has drawn criticism from Chiefs fans and other NFL fans alike.

Chiefs stand by Harrison Butker as their starting kicker

The Chiefs maintain that they’re committed to Butker as their starting kicker. Head coach Andy Reid and special teams coordinator Dave Toub both echoed that this week. They’re also clearly trying to normalize an uncommon situation by stating the obvious. Every other position on the 53-man roster has some competition. Now, Butker has it at kicker as well.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Toub addressed the situation head-on. The veteran special teams coach insisted Butker has been “solid” through the situation. He understands the expectations placed on him and that it’s a results-oriented business. He also understands that’s why they brought in Tucker.

“He’s been solid, we haven’t had to do this, obviously,” Toub explained. “But we’re at the point now where every position has competition. Everybody has somebody that’s behind them, that’s ready to come up. We don’t have that on the practice squad. So, we went out, we brought in three kickers and worked them out to get somebody onto the practice squad to be ready. It’s a lot better to have them on a practice squad so you can get them working with your operation. It takes time to get that right. I mean, that’s the whole idea of it, doing that. And it doesn’t matter who it is, that’s what we would do.”

That’s an important distinction. The Chiefs aren’t framing this as a kicker controversy, at least publicly. They’re framing it as the same kind of competition you see in the wide receiver room, the linebacker room, or anywhere else on the roster.

Why the Chiefs landed on Justin Tucker

As for the criticism levied against Kansas City for signing Tucker, Toub said the decision came down to one thing. He ran a rigorous tryout program, and Tucker emerged as the best kicker. On the off-field concerns, Toub echoed what Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said on Wednesday. The team did its homework on Tucker, and he has already served his 10-game suspension.

“Because (K Justin Tucker) he is a good kicker,” Toub said. “And I’ve heard he’s been out making the rounds, and we talk. All the special teams coaches talk. He had four workouts before we brought—we were his fifth tryout. And the word was that he was hitting the ball great, and I wanted to see it. I always thought he was a great kicker, and those two guys right now, (K) Harrison (Butker) and him, they idolized each other in the league when they were kicking together.

“He was out there; he did his 10-game suspension, so he was available. We brought him in. He was one of three kickers that we thought were the best guys out there. I made a grueling workout for these guys. I had a 30 kick, 10 extra points. I had seven kicks over 50; one was a 60-yarder. He made every kick, and not only did he make them, he was accurate. 60 percent of his kicks were inside of a six-foot cylinder in the middle of the uprights. Somebody that’s struggling as a kicker is not able to put the ball with that kind of accuracy in 30 kicks. So, he was off-the-charts good. That’s the reason why we signed him to the practice squad.”

If you ask me, that’s about as clear as the Chiefs ever got on that front. They evaluated their options, believe Tucker was the best kicker available, and are comfortable with where he stands after serving his suspension. Not everyone will agree with that reasoning, and the outside noise won’t go away anytime soon.

Tucker is already making his presence felt

Tucker has only been in Kansas City for a day, but it already seems to be affecting Butker and his approach. If nothing else, his presence is motivating. It sends a clear message that misses won’t be tolerated and that Kansas City has another option if Butker can’t get it done.

According to Toub, Butker and Tucker share mutual admiration as former AFC competitors. We’ve heard Butker speak about Tucker before. That has helped their relationship, and it has helped things come along quickly between the two kickers.

“That’s the point we’re trying to get (K Harrison) Butker to right now. He’s our kicker. He went 10-for-10 yesterday, with (K Justin) Tucker standing right there. And he went 10-for-10 on a windy day. It was 28-mile-an-hour gusts yesterday, and he went 10-for-10. And I thought, right before we got to practice, I was going, ‘This poor guy, it’s 28-mile-an-hour gusts, and he’s got to go out there and try to…’ and he did. He went 10-for-10, so that’s a good thing. So, we’re going to keep working it. Today’s another day. We’re going to kick again today and move forward with this thing.”

It’s a dynamic worth watching. Butker has been a fixture for the Chiefs for years, and he’s rarely had to look over his shoulder. Now, he’s sharing a practice field with one of the players he has looked up to, and that player is also the guy waiting in the wings.

Only time will tell whether the Chiefs will need to rely on Tucker in a game. For now, Kansas City hopes he won’t need to be anything more than a player-coach and confidant who helps get Butker back to where he needs to be.