The Ravens placed center Danny Pinter on injured reserve Wednesday, officially ending his season after a torn patellar tendon suffered during last week's joint practice with the Vikings. Pinter was carted off that day and later seen with a brace on his leg, and had entered camp as the frontrunner in a three-way center battle before the injury cut his summer short.
Head coach Jesse Minter didn't hide how the news landed on a personal level when he addressed it earlier this week. "Yes, it is looking like a season-ending thing," Minter said Monday. "My heart goes out to Danny Pinter." Injury has been a recurring theme in Pinter's career — a broken ankle wiped out his entire final season in Indianapolis back in 2023 — and this latest setback comes just months after he signed a one-year deal worth up to $2.75 million to join Baltimore this past March.
That competition, created after longtime starter Tyler Linderbaum left for the Raiders in free agency, is now down to two names: Jovaughn Gwyn and Ethan Pocic. Minter has said both will keep getting first-team reps as the sides sort itself out, and he singled out how each has responded when Minnesota's defense brought pressure up front during last week's joint practices. "I think Jo's done a really nice job," Minter said. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was asked Wednesday how the interior line has looked without Pinter in the mix.
"Guys are getting better each and every day," Jackson said. "It is still competition, I believe — coach [Minter] said that. We're just seeing, keep evaluating, but guys are stepping up each and every day. They are getting better."
Jackson was pressed further on Gwyn specifically, who's making the shift to center after playing elsewhere on the line. "He is getting better each and every day," Jackson said. "There is still competition going on, so I am not the one evaluating. It is really the coaches and what they see and stuff like that. But he is doing a great job. We just have to keep getting at it, keep getting after it."
Pocic, for his part, is working back from his own injury — a torn Achilles that ended his 2025 season in Cleveland — and had already been expected to carry a heavier practice load around this point in the preseason regardless of Pinter's health. Corey Bullock, who returned to practice earlier this month, will also see some center reps as camp winds down, though he isn't considered a serious contender for the starting job. With one exhibition game left before the regular season, Baltimore now needs its center battle settled without the player who came into camp as the favorite.