Justin Tucker is so back.

Or at least it feels that way, considering how well the Ravens kicker is swinging his leg this side of the early December bye week.

Tucker entered that late break in the schedule having missed eight field goal attempts and a pair of extra-point tries. Ten errant kicks handily set a career high; he’s never missed more than seven combined in a single season. In Year 13, he sliced one and hooked nine, leaving Tucker dizzy walking off the tee box.

Something wasn’t clicking for the most accurate kicker in NFL history.

Coach John Harbaugh tempered outside noise that suggested they bring in a challenger at the position. “I believe it will [get fixed],” he said. “It has to.” Tucker told his coach heading into the bye that he knew what he had to do. It was just a matter of going out and doing it.

Since then, Tucker has been nails.

He didn’t get the chance to kick a field goal in a 35-14 beatdown against the lowly New York Giants, but he made all five extra-point tries. He came back a week later to make two field goals (one from 51 yards) versus Pittsburgh. And on Christmas Day in Houston, he calmly split the uprights from 52 yards.

“He’s making great ball contact. The ball’s flying straight. He’s doing everything right,” punter and holder Jordan Stout said. “It’s just like back to normal. Whatever that was that happened is over now and we’re ready to move on.”

That’s all following what Tucker called an “excruciating” bye week, largely spent at the team’s Owings Mills facility.

Stout said it helped to take a short breath away from football but doubled down explaining the meticulous efforts of the bye week. The longest-tenured Raven is a creature of routine, Stout said, so they didn’t change anything.

“We hyper fixated on everything,” Stout said. “Everything. From the hold to the snap to the lean of the hold. His foot placement, his lean off, how tall he is. Everything. And maybe that’s part of it. But also part of that could have been, we were overthinking it, too. But maybe the reason we’re back to where we are is because we did that. So, it’s like, no one will ever know.”Prisoners of the moment beware, this isn’t Tucker’s first flawless stretch this season. He was perfect against Buffalo, Cincinnati, Washington then Tampa Bay. After that, he unraveled to the point some outsiders were calling for his replacement.

In an interview with SBNation, Fresno State special teams coordinator John Baxter, who has coached colleges for 35 years and has known Harbaugh for decades, postulated the notorious power in his kick meant a fraction off the point of impact resulted in a significant hook.

“The margin of error is so minuscule,” Stout said. “So just hyperfixating on the sweet spot is the best thing to do.”

Even in the slump, Tucker claimed to never lose confidence. He spoke with an even-keeled assuredness that he’d get back on track. There also seemed to be a devil and angel on either shoulder.

“In the wise words of Terrell Suggs, ‘Sometimes it just be like that,’” Tucker said after beating Pittsburgh on Dec. 21. “The ball comes off your foot, and it does not go exactly where you want it every single time.”

Moments later, he acknowledged how quickly his mind can veer into the curb.

“I tell myself, like, ‘You have to make this kick if you are worth anything to this team, if you’re worth anything to your teammates — all the work that you put in — you have to make this kick. You don’t have a choice,’” Tucker said. “I’m kind of trying to toe that line and just remain the same, which is easier said than done, given the nature of the pressures that come with playing in this league.”

His body of work was enough reason to think Tucker, at some point, might get here. He’s a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and five-time All-Pro with a Super Bowl ring. Stout spends every day with him and won’t hear arguments against Tucker being the greatest ever or that some fans called him washed during the unprecedented stretch.

“The craziest part about the whole thing was Justin had never done that before and everyone was confused as to why or how,” Stout said. “I knew he was gonna come out of it.”

Is he completely out of it? That might not be answered until the season is complete. But since the bye week, Tucker’s bewildering hook shot has straightened out. Just like the good times.

“I’m thankful that we had this opportunity to get put in a kiln and maybe we can come out the other side as a beautiful little vase,” Tucker said last month. “That was not a very good metaphor but it’s the best I got right now.”

Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.