The Ravens just lost their presumptive starting center for the year, and it happened in a joint practice that was supposed to be a tune-up. Danny Pinter suffered a torn patella tendon on Wednesday against the Vikings, and that's the kind of injury that usually ends a season before it even starts.
The report came from NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, who called it "a rough one for Baltimore and Pinter" and noted Pinter had been impressing while working with the starters throughout camp. That context matters: this wasn't a camp body just trying to make the roster. Pinter had the inside track on QB1's blind-side snap partner, working directly with Lamar Jackson with the first team.
Ravens head coach Jesse Minter said Pinter will "probably miss an extended amount of time" while the team gathers more medical opinions, but a torn patellar tendon typically means a 6-to-12 month recovery. Translation: barring a miracle, Pinter's 2026 season is done.
This hits at the worst possible spot on the roster. Baltimore's interior O-line was already in flux after Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum bolted for the Raiders in free agency this spring on a record 3-year, $81 million deal. The Ravens weren't close to matching it, and they didn't pick up Linderbaum's fifth-year option beforehand — so the center job was wide open, and Pinter, a former Colts fifth-round pick on a one-year deal, had seized it.
Now that competition resets from scratch. Ethan Pocic is working back from a torn Achilles suffered in December and will reportedly see an increased workload, Jovaughn Gwyn flashed in the preseason opener against Philadelphia, and Corey Bullock is set to get extra reps in Saturday's preseason game — fittingly, against the same Vikings team that just ended Pinter's season.
For a Ravens team with real Super Bowl aspirations behind Lamar Jackson, losing your presumed starting center in Week 2 of preseason is a gut punch nobody wants heading into a contract year for the whole offense to gel. Keep an eye on how the center battle shakes out over the next two weeks — because whoever wins it now has to be ready by Week 1.