Ravens center Danny Pinter was carted off the field during Wednesday's joint practice against the Vikings in Minnesota and was later seen with a brace on his right leg, an injury that immediately complicates one of the more unresolved position battles on Baltimore's roster.
Head coach Jesse Minter didn't have anything concrete to share afterward, saying only that Pinter was undergoing tests. Pinter had been the frontrunner in a three-way center competition with Ethan Pocic and Jovaughn Gwyn, and started Baltimore's preseason opener against the Eagles. The competition exists in the first place because longtime starter Tyler Linderbaum left in free agency this offseason, signing with the Raiders and leaving the Ravens without a clear answer at the position.
The timing puts more weight on Pocic's own recovery. He's been working back from a torn Achilles that ended his 2025 season in Cleveland in December, and Minter had already been planning to lean on him more starting this week regardless of what happened with Pinter. "We targeted this second week for the preseason of him kind of ramping up into the action anyway," Minter said. Read BSF's earlier look at who Ethan Pocic is and how he fits into the center picture.
Gwyn, the third option in the competition, has held up well of late and drew praise from Minter for his performance against Philadelphia. Minter also pointed to offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford's prior history with Gwyn in Atlanta as part of why the transition to Baltimore's scheme has come easily. "He understands how we want to play," Minter said of Gwyn, crediting that shared background with the Falcons system.
More on Pinter's injury is expected once test results come back.