The Kansas City Chiefs have signed former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to the practice squad. The decision has many fans up in arms because of his alleged off-field misconduct and the performance issues that led to his departure from the Ravens during the 2024 NFL season.

The signing also brings an awkward bit of history back into the spotlight. Two of the Chiefs’ team leaders, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, got into a pregame spat with Tucker ahead of the 2023-24 AFC Championship Game. Now all three are on the same team, and Mahomes made sure to clear the air.

Revisiting the Chiefs’ pregame spat with Justin Tucker

If you’re not familiar with the story, it started during warmups before the AFC title game in Baltimore. Tucker was stretching and placing his kicking tees and equipment in Kansas City’s warm-up area. According to Kelce, that broke unwritten football rules.

Kelce went in depth about what happened on the New Heights podcast with his brother, Jason Kelce. He explained that if Tucker wasn’t going to move his kicking tee and helmet from the Chiefs’ warm-up area, he had no problem picking them up and moving them for him.

The moment got plenty of airtime back then. Mahomes was also involved in the exchange, and the clip of the Chiefs’ stars confronting the Ravens kicker circulated on social media for days. With Tucker now on the practice squad in Kansas City, the question was always going to come up.

Patrick Mahomes says there’s no beef with Tucker

Asked about the spat with Tucker and his relationship with the kicker, Mahomes said there is no drama or beef between them. In fact, the two aren’t very familiar with each other.

“We haven’t had a lot of conversations because he’s obviously on the Ravens and I was on the Chiefs,” Mahomes said. “But it wasn’t like we ever had any beef or anything like that. I think at that moment it was just competitors being competitors. It was a big moment for everybody’s career, and you’re playing the AFC Championship Game. And he’s been a big, big-time kicker for a long time. Me and Trav were obviously competing, and we wanted to go out there and win. And that stuff happened. But then you move on from that. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re just playing a game, and you want to compete, and you want to win. But it wasn’t like we had some like long-standing beef that kind of carried over after the game. It’s kind of we won that game, and then I was on to the Super Bowl. So there’s nothing hostile, I guess you would say, moving forward from that.”

That’s about as clean a resolution as the Chiefs could have hoped for on the football side. Whatever happened on the field before the AFC title game, Mahomes doesn’t appear interested in carrying it into the locker room.

What about the other issue surrounding Tucker’s signing?

The more important aspect of Tucker’s addition to the team is the off-field situation surrounding allegations of sexual misconduct. Mahomes wasn’t asked about that directly. He was, however, asked about his reaction to the team’s decision to sign Tucker.

“Yeah, I mean, we have a lot of people that have kind of added in and out,” Mahomes said. “I try not to get too high or too low on anything, but I know (Brett) Veach and them do a great job of bringing great players in. But for me, it was about the Denver Broncos, and moving on, and continuing to get better. We have a lot of stuff that we have to clean up, and I think that’s the the biggest thing for us is trying to clean up for this big game that we have.”

It was a bit of a non-answer from Mahomes, but the off-field issues were implicit in the question. The truth is, it’s clear the team is trying to put any distraction Tucker’s addition might cause out of mind. They’ve got more important fish to fry, and frankly, the decision is out of Mahomes’ control, for better or worse.

Chiefs’ focus shifts to a scorching-hot Denver Broncos team

Kansas City doesn’t have much time to dwell on it. The Chiefs are coming off a disappointing Week 7 loss to the reigning world champion Seattle Seahawks, and the next challenge isn’t any easier. The Denver Broncos are on a hot streak. This matchup could determine whether K.C. wins the AFC West, putting plenty of pressure on a team that has made a habit of owning its division.

Right now, Mahomes and Kelce are focused on improving and beating the Broncos. Whether it’s the off-field situation with Tucker or the past grievances between the kicker and the Chiefs’ two biggest stars, Kansas City clearly wants to put it all aside and focus on the task at hand.

How Tucker fits into the practice squad picture, and how the organization handles the outside noise around his signing, will be worth watching in the weeks ahead. For now, the Chiefs’ attention is squarely on Denver.