With the opener in Indianapolis 3 1/2 weeks away, it was beginning to look like veteran newcomer Danny Pinter might seize the Ravens’ starting center job to at least begin the 2026 campaign.
Instead, he’ll “miss an extended amount of time” with a reported patellar tendon tear, an injury that will almost certainly end his season. Though head coach Jesse Minter would not confirm the specifics of the injury nor rule out Pinter for the remainder of the season as the organization was “still getting some different opinions” Thursday, he made it clear that the 30-year-old isn’t going to be back on the field anytime soon.
Despite having made just 10 career starts with the Colts over his six-year career, Pinter had been working with the first-team offense since the start of training camp and for much of spring workouts. With Pinter being carted off the field in Minnesota on Wednesday, Minter acknowledged there is “probably still a competition” among longtime NFL veteran Ethan Pocic, little-known newcomer Jovaughn Gwyn, and seldom-used incumbent reserve Corey Bullock, who has primarily worked at guard this summer.
A 10th-year veteran with 97 career starts under his belt, Pocic signed a one-year deal worth up to $4.5 million in mid-July, which led many to assume he’d be the man to replace three-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum. However, Baltimore has been very deliberate in ramping up Pocic’s reps as he makes his way back from a torn Achilles tendon suffered last December. The 6-toot-6, 320-pound center didn’t play until the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s preseason opener, which didn’t come across as a ringing endorsement for his chances of starting against the Colts on Sept 13.
“I felt like we kind of targeted this second week of the preseason of him kind of ramping up into more of the action anyway,” said Minter about what Pinter’s injury would mean for Pocic. “It’s why you sign guys like that is to, one, put them in the competition, [and] two, to make sure you have enough in that situation. You don’t ever want to see anybody go down, but I certainly feel good about the way ‘Jo’ played in the game and obviously about Ethan in the way that he has played throughout his whole career.”
In the same way many were too quick to dismiss Pinter’s chances of winning the center job earlier this summer, Gwyn is an interesting candidate after following offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford to Baltimore on a league-minimum contract signed in March. A 2023 seventh-round pick out of South Carolina who played just 11 offensive snaps over three seasons with Atlanta, Gwyn turned some heads with is performance over 51 snaps against Philadelphia in the first preseason game.
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For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus not only graded the 6-foot-2, 310-pound Gwyn as Baltimore’s top offensive lineman against the Eagles, but he was the center for the website’s preseason Week 1 team of the week.
“He’s just really powerful and athletic. I would say that he’s been really well-trained because our offensive line coach has coached him for the last few years,” Minter said. “He really understands how we want to play, which is great. He has been in a similar system and some of the wide-zone stuff that the Falcons ran. He has a lot of familiarity with coach Ledford and how he operates. He’s definitely great to have.”
Minter confirmed Bullock is also expected to get more of a look at center after serving as Linderbaum’s backup last season. The University of Maryland product saw just 13 offensive snaps over 16 games last season after spending 2024 on the Ravens’ practice squad.
It’s always possible general manager Eric DeCosta looks outside the organization to add more competition, but Minter expressed confidence in the healthy center options remaining on the roster.
“I do like the room that we have,” Minter said. “I don’t think there’s ever a time where you are not looking to make the best move for your roster, but I do really like those guys. I think that we have a chance to have a really good center come out of that competition.”
