Tucker is on the practice squad, Butker is still the kicker, and nobody's really buying it

Dave Toub said it emphatically, Andy Reid said it plainly, and Patrick Mahomes said it calmly: Harrison Butker is the kicker. The messaging this week has been coordinated and consistent. It has also required three separate press conferences to deliver, which tells you something about how convincing it's been.

Butker missed two field goals in the Seattle loss — a game Kansas City lost 20-3, so the misses were not the margin, but they were the punctuation. The offense scored three points. The kicker couldn't convert the attempts he got. Tucker, who hasn't kicked in the NFL since 2024 and whose return comes with its own considerable baggage, is now in the building. Reid said Tucker has handled his situation. Toub said Butker is the guy. Both things are true, and both things are in tension, and that tension is the story heading into Week 8 against Denver.

The angle that worries me more than the kicker competition, though, is the one Kelce put plainly on his podcast: you can't be okay with being mediocre. That's not a kicking comment. That's a comment about a team that put up three points at home against a quality defense and is now spending its week answering questions about Justin Tucker's conduct history instead of fixing whatever broke offensively. Kenneth Walker carried this offense through the first six weeks. The receiving corps is thin enough that Kelce's Questionable tag matters every single game. The offense needs answers, and right now the loudest question in the building is about a kicker who isn't even the starter.

Denver comes to town Sunday. The Broncos have their own injury questions up front, and Kansas City is still 5-1 with the AFC West lead. This is a winnable game. But the Tucker signing, whatever its intent, has added noise to a week that needed clarity.