The Ravens filled out their practice squad Monday, and the most notable addition wasn't a rookie — it was veteran kicker Jake Moody, signed just days after Tyler Loop's shaky night reopened questions about the position.
As BSF covered, Loop went 2-for-4 on field goals in Friday's 41-3 win over the Commanders, pulling attempts from 58 and 51 yards left of the mark before finally connecting from 51 and 24 yards later in the game. It capped a preseason in which all three of his misses came at home, and it followed him into questions from reporters about his job security.
Head coach Jesse Minter didn't dismiss the idea of bringing in competition when asked afterward.
"You want to see makes in games," Minter said. "It's something we'll continue to look at. We'll continue to look at what the best situation is there. He has had a good camp overall, but again, it comes down to making the kicks in the pressure situations in the game." Pressed further on the team's plans heading into the opener, Minter added, "I think there's a million scenarios there to try to make sure that we have the best situation headed into Indy."
The stakes trace back further than one preseason game. A missed field goal from Loop in Week 18 last season at Pittsburgh ended Baltimore's playoff hopes, and the fallout eventually cost John Harbaugh his job after 18 years running the team — the vacancy that brought Minter over from the Chargers in the first place.
Loop has defended his process throughout camp, saying after Friday's game that missing kicks is simply part of the job. "My job is to go make kicks," he said. "That is the expectation every time I go on the field. The 10 guys that are with me and the other guys on the sideline, they expect me to make the kick. That is my job, and I have to do that. When it does not happen, it is frustrating. When it does happen, it is fun. That is just the nature of the job."
Moody arrives with his own complicated history at the position. A third-round pick by the 49ers in 2023 out of Michigan — where he was known as "Money Moody" for his reliability and won Big Ten Kicker of the Year honors twice — he had a strong rookie season that included a trip to the Super Bowl before his accuracy cratered the following year, making just 24 of 34 field goal attempts.
San Francisco waived him last September after he missed a kick and had another blocked in the season opener. He bounced to Chicago's practice squad before landing with Washington, where he found some of his old form, converting 10 of 11 field goal tries over the Commanders' final six games of the season.
“Jake has just kind of been on the radar, and he is a guy that has had success in this league," Minter said on Monday. "[We] really just felt like adding a guy, and it is whatever is best for the team at that particular moment — so we added a guy to compete on the practice squad, and kind of see how it shakes out from there.”
Moody now joins Baltimore as experienced insurance at a position the coaching staff clearly isn't ready to call settled.
"I have a lot of confidence in Tyler still," Minter said. "He has had a great training camp. I expect him to be our kicker going into Indianapolis, but I think, again, you are always trying to just have every scenario covered. So, that is what we are trying to do as a team.”
Baltimore's other signings filled out the rest of the practice squad. The full list:
| Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Exp. | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rayshaun Benny | DL | 6-3 | 305 | R | Michigan |
| Nick Dawkins | C | 6-4 | 305 | R | Penn State |
| Dominic DeLuca | ILB | 6-1 | 228 | R | Penn State |
| Xavier Guillory | WR | 6-2 | 210 | 1 | Arizona State |
| Adisa Isaac | OLB | 6-4 | 253 | 3 | Penn State |
| Gerad Lichtenhan | T | 6-8 | 330 | 1 | Oregon State |
| Ty Pezza | TE | 6-3 | 240 | R | Brown |
| Kaimon Rucker | OLB | 6-2 | 265 | 1 | North Carolina |
| Carl Jones Jr.* | LB | 6-0 | 223 | 2 | UCLA |
| Chris Moore | WR | 6-1 | 200 | 11 | Cincinnati |
| Amani Oruwariye | CB | 6-2 | 198 | 6 | Penn State |
| K'Von Wallace | S | 5-11 | 205 | 6 | Clemson |
| Jonathan Ward | RB | 6-0 | 202 | 6 | Central Michigan |
| David Olajiga† | DL | 6-3 | 310 | 1 | Central Missouri |
*Signed as a practice squad exception. †Signed as an International Practice Player.
"Shout out to all the guys we added on the practice squad," Minter said Monday. "It is a huge deal, especially with the rules now — I kind of look at it as a 70-man roster. With the numbers that we have, [I want] them all ready to play — we need to have every single guy as part of that 70 ready to play at the drop of a hat when their number is called. That is what we really want those guys to focus on."