Pinter Is Done for a While. Pocic Is the Plan Now.

Danny Pinter tore his patella tendon on Wednesday and is expected to miss an extended amount of time — which, in practical terms, means Ethan Pocic is Baltimore's starting center heading into the season. The Ravens signed Pocic to a one-year deal back in July specifically to add veteran depth at the position. He's the plan now, not the insurance.

The timing is rough even by this summer's standards. Baltimore has already watched Hakeem Adeniji retire, then Kendall Lamm retire, then brought back David Sharpe at tackle just to keep the unit functional. The center spot was supposed to be the settled piece of all this. Pinter going down makes it one more thing to figure out before the opener.

Pocic is a capable veteran — he's started games in this league and knows the position. The question isn't whether he can hold the job; it's whether the line around him has enough continuity to function. Vega Ioane, the rookie guard taken 14th overall, is still learning. Ronnie Stanley anchors the left side. The rest of the group has been reshuffled enough times this camp that cohesion is a real concern, not a theoretical one.

The whole point of the offseason offensive line work was to give Lamar Jackson cleaner pockets and Derrick Henry better running lanes — the two things that went wrong most often in an 8–9 season that saw Baltimore lose six of nine home games. Pocic stepping in doesn't undo that work, but it does narrow the margin for anything else to go sideways up front.