Ravens name Jovaughn Gwyn starting center for Week 1; Jesse Minter won’t rule out Nnamdi Madubuike

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As the Ravens head into Week 1, Jovaughn Gwyn will prepare to start at center, coach Jesse Minter announced Monday.

Following Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum’s departure in the offseason, the Ravens have been searching for an answer at center. They did not draft a replacement but signed three free agents, including Gwyn.

Danny Pinter was the second to sign with the team and seemed to have a slight edge. The Ravens signed veteran Ethan Pocic later in camp, but he is making his way back from an Achilles injury.

Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta indicated in a radio interview that Pinter was leading the competition, but when the team went to Minnesota in mid-August for joint practices with the Vikings, Pinter tore his patellar tendon, which is a season-ending injury.

Gwyn stepped up in Pinter’s absence while Pocic continued to ramp up. They each got opportunities in the preseason.

Minter said Gwyn’s familiarity with offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford and the system worked in his favor. Week 1 will mark Gwyn’s first start in the NFL. He played all 17 games with the Atlanta Falcons last season under Ledford but only received 11 offensive snaps.

“Got a lot of confidence in him,” Minter said. “This is a guy, like, opportunity knocks, and he’s ready to take advantage.”

However, Minter also called this a “Week 1 decision, not a permanent decision,” leaving the door open for Pocic, who has 97 career starts, if he’s able to regain his form in future practices.

“Obviously we know what Ethan’s capable of,” Minter said. “He’s still coming back from the injury. But we have a lot of confidence as a staff in Jovaughn.”

A peek at Beeks?

With the media viewing period limited to warmups and individual drills, it’s been hard to track Nnamdi Madubuike’s progress as he works to return from the season-ending neck injury he suffered in Week 2 last year.

But Minter said the Pro Bowl defensive lineman has “been involved more and more and more just about every day.”

When asked if there are certain benchmarks Madubuike has to hit in his recovery or if it’s based on feel, Minter simply said it’s a process.

“He’ll be involved in practice this week,” Minter said. “He’ll be in team [drills]; he’ll be doing things, and we’ll kind of see how it shakes out as we get closer to see if it’s even possible Week 1.”

Minter said he wouldn’t rule anyone out for Week 1, including Madubuike and linebacker Teddye Buchanan, who has been rehabbing from a torn ACL.

Loop steps it up

Ever since kicker Jake Moody joined the practice squad last week, Minter doesn’t think Tyler Loop has missed a kick.

Last year, Loop ended his rookie season with a missed field goal that knocked the Ravens out of playoff contention, but the team elected not to bring in competition at the start of training camp.

After Loop missed three field goals in preseason games as well as several in practice, the Ravens decided to sign Moody, who was cut in August by the Washington Commanders, to the practice squad.

Minter has said that he still has confidence in Loop, but the decision was about what was best for the team and its long-term outlook.

Moody played for Michigan while Minter was the team’s defensive coordinator.

“To Tyler’s credit, he’s responded really well to bringing somebody in at his position,” Minter said. “... Normally, it brings out the best if you have the right type of guy, and I don’t think he’s missed a kick since we brought Jake in, and Jake’s done really well.”