Dave Toub Breaks Down Harrison Butker's Health, Missed FG vs. Browns

Kicker Harrison Butker missed a field goal in his first game back from injury, but Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub doesn't seem too worried.

Oct 27, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Kansas City Chiefs place kicker Harrison Butker (7) reacts after a field goal against the Las Vegas Raiders in the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

As the Kansas City Chiefs gear up for the postseason, they're hoping to peak at the right time in all three phases of the game.

Week 15's victory over the Cleveland Browns saw one side of the ball, defense, thrive with several turnovers forced. Andy Reid and Matt Nagy's offense struggled. Somewhere in the middle was Dave Toub's special teams unit, which got a fumble on a punt return but also had a shortcoming in the kicking game.

In his first outing back after getting activated from injured reserve, kicker Harrison Butker made each of his extra points on Sunday but whiffed on his only field goal attempt. It wasn't a particularly difficult try, either, as it came from just 29 yards out.

Despite the injury timing, it may not have been Butker's fault. Speaking to the media this week, Toub said his star placekicker is close to 100% healthy. He later took the blame for the operation failing, as long snapper James Winchester and holder Matt Araiza were late getting lined up on the field.

"Yeah, it was smart to bring him back," Toub said. "He's healthy. Obviously, he's not 100%, but he's pretty close. He's looked good in practice, he looked good before that game, he looked good in the pregame. On the miss, I need to do a better job of communicating to the holder and the snapper that we're going to kick the field goal. I just assumed that they were together, but they weren't, and that was my fault. That little bit of change where Harrison's panicking, 'Where are they?' That has an effect. It wasn't his injury, I don't think, that had anything to do with it. Any time you get an operation out of sync like that – whether they have to rush or somebody's not there – that puts a toll on it. I think that's what happened there. I'll take the [blame], that's my fault. I can't assume that they're right together."

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Coming into the Browns matchup, Butker had made all 57 of his efforts between 20-29 yards since entering the league in 2017. By all accounts, it was an uncharacteristic miss for one of the game's most reliable players. His season stats remain strong, as he's 18-for-21 on field goals (85.7%) and 24-for-25 on extra points (96%) on the year. After a bumpy 2022-23 campaign that featured time missed due to injury and inconsistent production upon returning, Butker has picked up right where he left off for most of his Chiefs tenure.

Many watching the game on Sunday took notice of Butker collapsing on his plant leg in his kicking process, but Toub once again shot it down. The 29-year-old has been doing that for quite some time now. In fact, it stemmed from when he first got hurt in Week 1 of the aforementioned 2022 season.

"That's his technique," Toub said. "His technique is to break, his leg comes down. People are just noticing that because it's his knee and it's bent, so they're looking at that leg. But all year long, his technique is to collapse that leg after he follows through. Most kickers, if you watch them, they plant, they kick and then they hop on that leg. That leg gets replaced. He keeps his foot planted and then his knee breaks, and then he steps through with his right leg. He developed that technique after he got injured in the Arizona game a couple of years ago. That's something that's developed over time. You can't just change your technique because you got injured [and] now all of a sudden, he's going to go back to the other. He's going to keep the same technique, and that's all that was right there."

Moving forward, Kansas City's hope will be that Butker can get back into a rhythm in time for the playoffs. His postseason resume speaks for itself – particularly a run earlier this calendar year that saw him make all 11 tries (including one from 57 yards out). One game isn't a reason to sound the alarms just yet, especially given the awkward setup in Ohio.

Read More: Chiefs Injury Report – More Progress for Patrick Mahomes in Wednesday Practice