Justin Tucker downplays pregame dust-up with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce

Baltimore’s Justin Tucker brought some practice equipment to an area where Patrick Mahomes, left, and other Chiefs were warming up. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

A day after a pregame dust-up with the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker downplayed the incident, although he noted the pair of offensive stars seemed to have been taking the incident “more seriously.”

The episode, which occurred approximately 90 minutes before kickoff of Sunday’s AFC championship game at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, was captured on video and quickly went viral. The footage showed Tucker warming up in an area near one of the end zones otherwise populated by members of the Chiefs going through pregame routines.

Mahomes was seen tossing aside a practice kicking holder belonging to Tucker and then talking to the kicker. Kelce again tossed aside the holder, as well as two footballs and a Ravens helmet. Tucker did not appear to take immediate offense to their actions and continued with some stretching exercises.

On Monday, approximately 20 hours after the Chiefs beat the Ravens to book another trip to the Super Bowl, Tucker told reporters he wasn’t doing anything he hadn’t done throughout his decorated NFL career. The five-time first-team all-pro suggested Mahomes and Kelce may have been engaging in some “gamesmanship.”

“The way it works is each team’s kicker goes to the other team’s designated warmup area on the field,” Tucker said Monday at his locker, from which he was removing his belongings. “For me, it’s usually about 90 minutes before kickoff. I’ve been doing the exact same thing for 12 years — never really had a problem with anybody.”

“That’s just kind of the way we’ve always done it and the way kickers around the league have always done it,” Tucker continued. “I saw Patrick there trying to warm up and get some dropbacks. He asked me while I was on the ground stretching if I could move my helmet. I happily got up and I moved my helmet out of the way — at least I thought it was enough out of the way — and then Travis comes over and just kicks my stuff and throws my helmet. I thought it was all just some gamesmanship, all in good fun, but they seemed to be taking it a little more seriously.”

With Kansas City on the road in the AFC playoffs for the first time since it began its remarkable run of success with Mahomes in 2018, Kelce had said last week the Chiefs were well aware that they were entering “another hostile environment” Sunday.

Speaking then on his popular “New Heights” podcast, the 34-year-old tight end made it clear that the Chiefs were taking motivation from suggestions this season that their drop-off in offensive production made the defending NFL champions appear less fearsome.

“Keep disrespecting us,” Kelce said on his podcast. “Keep telling us that we don’t have it all. We’re in another AFC championship game, and we’re looking forward to the challenge coming up.”

Whether the incident with Tucker lit further fire under Kelce and Mahomes, they certainly played instrumental roles in defeating the Ravens and leading Kansas City to a fourth Super Bowl appearance in the past five years. During a 17-10 win in which both teams struggled to move the ball, Kelce led all players with 11 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown, while Mahomes completed 30 of 39 passes for 241 yards and no turnovers.

On Baltimore’s side, there was blame to go around, but Tucker could come away knowing he had again done his job. The NFL’s all-time most accurate kicker (minimum 100 attempts), he made his one field goal attempt Sunday, from 43 yards, and nailed his lone extra point.

Although he was uncharacteristically inaccurate this year from 50-plus yards — making just one of five — Tucker missed only one of his 32 attempts from inside that distance and was named to his seventh Pro Bowl.

On Monday, he said he couldn’t recall ever before getting flak from opponents over his pregame routine and asserted he wasn’t “trying to be problematic.”

“I’m just trying to get ready for the football game, just like they are,” he told reporters, adding praise for Mahomes and Kelce as “two of the best players that have ever played the game at their respective positions.”

Tucker referred to the scene at the stadium as “an intense environment,” and his wasn’t the only incident of unruliness between the teams before the game. CBS cameras showed Baltimore cornerback Arthur Maulet involved in a scuffle with and taking a swing at a group of Chiefs players before officials separated them.

During the game, the Ravens hurt their chances with behavior that drew flags from officials, including two for roughing the passer and one on wide receiver Zay Flowers for taunting. At another point, Kelce laughed after his jawing with several opponents led to a headbutt from Baltimore’s Kyle Van Noy, incurring a 15-yard penalty on Baltimore for unnecessary roughness.

“This is on the team,” Ravens defensive lineman Michael Pierce said of Baltimore’s costly mistakes, including three turnovers. “And the defense, we had way too many penalties, personal fouls, all that kind of stuff.”