Danny Pinter Carted Off From Ravens Joint Practice With Vikings Due to Injury

The competition for the Baltimore Ravens' starting center spot might've just gotten tighter due to misfortune as veteran Danny Pinter was carted off from the team's joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings, according to multiple reports, including NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, among others.

#Ravens C Danny Pinter was carted off a short while ago at the joint practice with the #Vikings. Pinter has been vying for the starting spot after Tyler Linderbaum left in free agency.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 19, 2026

The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec reported that Pinter needed assistance getting onto the cart after it looked like "he got rolled up on."

After practice, the status of the seventh-year veteran was the first question head coach Jesse Minter fielded from reporters, but he wasn't able to provide much clarity or certainty about whether it's a long- or short-term issue.

"I was able to go over there and see him, [but] don't have any updates yet," Minter said. "We'll probably have that, hopefully, after he has somethings done, get some tests done but we'll see how that shakes out."

The Ravens have been extremely lucky when it comes to avoiding major injuries to their stars and other starters who have gone down in practice, only to return after a short reprieve from action. Just last week, they had top cornerback Nate Wiggins get carted off with what looked like a serious injury, but not only did he not suffer any structural damage to his knee but he was back at practice as a full particpant on Monday.

Hopefully, this unfortunate development will also result in another major bullet dodged, especially for a player like Pinter, who has been a career backup and was leading the Ravens' center competition through training camp up to this point.

"Danny Pinter was carted by the media area wearing a brace on his right leg," Zrebiec wrote on Twitter. "Appeared to be headed for additional testing. Either way, you have to feel for Pinter. Was closing in on a starting job for [the] first time in [his] career, and this happens. He pounded [his] fist on [the] cart in frustration."

During his first six years in the league, Pinter appeared in 77 career games for the Indianapolis Colts and made 10 starts between guard and center. He started the Ravens preseason opener but was pulled along with rookie starting right guard Olaivavega Ioane
after just two series.

Taking stock of remaining candidates

Baltimore Ravens lineman Jovaughn Gwyn (54) during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center on July 29, 2026. — Jul 29, 2026; Owings Mills, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens lineman Jovaughn Gwyn (54) during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While Pinter was the frontrunner to replace three-time Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum as the next anchor in the middle of the Ravens' starting offensive line, he wasn't the only one who has shown promise in training camp thus far or has previous starting experience.

Fourth-year pro Jovaughn Gwyn relieved Pinter in the team's preseason opener and performed exceptionally well in about three quarters' worth of work, so much so that many believed he deserved to vault into the leading spot in the competition and was deserving of more reps with the first-team offense.

It didn't take him long to prove as much in Wednesday's joint practice after Pinter went down and he made a key block to spring star running back Derrick Henry past the first and second levels of the Vikings' starting defense.

WHAT A REP by Jovaughn Gwyn to open up a rushing lane for Derrick Henry, while adding a little extra to the end of the play too😤

Gwyn is competing for the Ravens starting center position and is coming off of a strong Week 1 preseason showing pic.twitter.com/7YNF1gIMUQ
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) August 19, 2026

"I say he's been really well trained because our offensive line coach [Dwayne Ledford] has coached him for the last few years so he really understands kind of how we want to play, which is great," Minter said.

Pinter's setback also sets up 10th-year veteran Ethan Pocic in position to potentially climb the depth chart. He was the third center enter the game in the preseason opener after being dubbed the favorite to win the job after being signed at the onset of camp.

Minter shared that since he hadn't been part of the team's offseason program and he was coming off a late-season torn Achellies, the target to ramp up his reps was Week 2 of the preseason.

"It's why you sign guys like that," Minter said. "It's to one: put them in the competition [and] two: to make sure you have enough in that situation. You never want to see anybody go down but I certainly feel good about the way [Jovaughn] played in the game and obviously about Ethan and the way he's played throughout his whole career."

Pocic is the most experienced of the bunch in contention for the job, with 99 career starts between the regular season and playoffs. However, Gwyn is building momentum, has familiarity with the scheme, has favor with the position coach and is stacking good days in practice and carrying it over to preseason games. If Pinter can't return, the race might go down to the wire, with a starter to be determined heading into the regular season opener for competitive reasons.

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