Injury to Ravens’ potential starting center adds level of uncertainty along O-line

EAGAN, Minn. — After getting helped onto the back of a cart, Baltimore Ravens center Danny Pinter pounded his fist in frustration. A sixth-year pro, Pinter was potentially a few weeks away from locking down a starting job for the first time in his career.

Instead, his season is now in jeopardy after he got rolled up about halfway through joint practices Wednesday with the Minnesota Vikings at the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.

Ravens coach Jesse Minter, who jogged over to the adjacent field to check on the offensive lineman, said Pinter needed to get additional testing to determine the severity of the injury. However, it certainly didn’t look good. Minter didn’t express any optimism as he did with practice-ending injuries for wide receiver Zay Flowers and cornerback Nate Wiggins earlier in training camp.

Pinter had a bulky brace on his right knee as he sat on the back of a cart after practice.

“I was able to go over to see him,” Minter said. “Don’t have any updates yet. We’ll probably have that as he gets some things done, gets some tests done. But we’ll see how that shakes out.”

Several Ravens took a knee around Pinter as the team’s chief medical officer, Dr. Andrew Tucker, hustled onto the field to tend to the player. Ravens rookie guard Vega Ioane clapped his hands in frustration, perhaps immediately sensing the severity of the injury.

It comes at a time when the Ravens are looking to solidify their starting offensive line ahead of the Sept. 13 regular-season opener against the Indianapolis Colts. The 30-year-old Pinter, who played his first five seasons with the Colts before signing with the Ravens in late March, has gotten just about all of the first-team reps at center this summer as Baltimore tries to find a replacement for Tyler Linderbaum.

Minter has repeatedly referred to it as a competition for the starting job, but that wasn’t necessarily reflected in how the reps were divided during the first three-plus weeks of training camp. Pinter also started the preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

When he went down in Wednesday’s practice, Jovaughn Gwyn replaced him with the starting group. Veteran center Ethan Pocic, expected to be the starting center when he signed just before training camp, then saw his reps increase.

Minter said the plan all along was to increase Pocic’s activity level, who is about eight months removed from a torn Achilles. Pinter’s injury could accelerate that process.

“It is why you sign guys like that — to, one, put them in the competition, (and) two, to make sure you have enough in that situation,” Minter said. “You do not ever want to see anybody go down, but 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.”

Minter called Gwyn, who followed offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford over from Atlanta, really powerful and athletic while acknowledging that his familiarity with Ledford has helped his transition to Baltimore.

“I hope Danny is OK,” Ravens running back Derrick Henry said. “You just have to go back in there, and it’s next man up.”

Defenses dominate

The Vikings finished practice strong, getting the better of both Ravens units in two-minute drills. Offensively, neither Lamar Jackson nor Tyler Huntley put the Ravens in position to score.

Defensively, Ravens safety Malaki Starks allowed wide receiver Justin Jefferson to get behind him for a touchdown catch from Kyler Murray. J.J. McCarthy also threw a touchdown pass to Myles Price, who slipped in between Ravens defensive backs Chandler Rivers and Keondre Jackson to make the play.

The two-minute segment was a continuation of an afternoon of issues for the offense, which struggled against Brian Flores’ blitz-happy defense. For the defense, it marred what was one of its most impressive practices of the summer. The Ravens mostly blanketed the Vikings’ receivers, and the defensive front made life difficult for Murray and the Minnesota quarterbacks.

“Would have liked to have finished the practice a little bit better the last couple of two-minute situations,” Minter said.

Still, Minter acknowledged he was pleased with the physicality the defense showed and the number of plays the secondary made. Starting cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Wiggins had one of their best practices all summer. Young backup cornerbacks T.J. Tampa, Keyon Martin, Marquise Robinson, Bilhal Kone and Rivers all made plays as well. The Ravens got their hands on a lot of footballs.

“I saw a lot of confidence, saw a lot of ‘goldfish-memory’ stuff,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “They are going to make plays. It is what it is. It is the NFL, the best players in the world, especially on this team. They have a few guys over there that can really go. So, if you get a ball caught on you, who cares? … Next play, go get a break-up, go get a pick, whatever it may be. I thought there was a lot of that, that I think the coaches (and) everybody involved appreciated.”

Offensively, the Ravens were not as sharp, struggling to pick up blitzes and find open receivers downfield. Wide receivers Rashod Bateman and Flowers and tight end Mark Andrews had some success on short and quick passes, and the Ravens popped a few runs, but the consistency and execution weren’t where it needed to be.

“Nobody probably pressures more in the league than ‘Flo,’” Minter said. “He does a phenomenal job. He’s one of the best coordinators in the league, so it’s a great test. I’m sure there were some good and bad. I’m sure there were some plays where he had some really good calls dialed up, and I’m sure Lamar made some plays as well.”

Cooler heads mostly prevail

There’s been plenty of attention on the myriad fights in joint practices league-wide. There were a few post-play dustups, but the Ravens and Vikings mostly kept their composure beyond Baltimore’s Martin throwing a punch at Minnesota defensive back Da’Veawn Armstead in a special teams drill.

Armstead stayed on top of Martin after a rep until the Ravens cornerback grabbed Armstead’s leg and then threw a right hand. Order was quickly restored when Ravens guard John Simpson landed on top of a Vikings player.

The chippiest practice got was during the special teams phase. Keondre Jackson and the Vikings’ Jacob Thomas squared off, but no punches were thrown.

“At the end of the day, you do not want to fight — that is not the goal being out here — but everybody is grown men out here, and if you feel like somebody tried you a certain way and you feel like you need to do something about it, do something about it,” Hamilton said. “It is not like that is the goal, and obviously tempers flare when it is someone not in the same jersey color as you. I’m glad nothing really popped off like that.”

Defensive back Keondre Jackson (39) was one of the few Ravens to get chippy with an opposing Vikings player during their joint practice on Wednesday. (David Berding / Getty Images)

News and notes

• The only two Ravens not in uniform for the start of Wednesday’s practice were running back Rasheen Ali and inside linebacker Carl Jones Jr. Inside linebacker Jay Higgins IV (concussion) was dressed for practice, but he had a non-contact red jersey on and didn’t participate in the team session.

• Humphrey twice stepped in front of Jefferson to break up passes, but just as easily could have intercepted them. Jefferson clearly felt the Ravens’ defensive backs were getting away with being too physical and had words with the referee crew on several occasions.

• Kone had an interception while matched up against wide receiver Dontae Fleming in a one-on-one drill. On his second rep, the second-year corner found himself opposite Jefferson, and he couldn’t stay with him across the field.

• Hamilton’s one-on-one rep against wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph ended quickly. Hamilton drove Rudolph to the ground just as he got off the line of scrimmage.

• The Ravens had few big plays offensively, but LaJohntay Wester was responsible for one of them. He was left uncovered on the far sideline, and he caught the ball and turned upfield for a big gain. Wester could have scored on the play.

• One of the biggest celebrations from the Ravens’ defense came when safety K’Von Wallace stripped running back Demond Claiborne of the ball and also recovered it.