AÂ couple of weeks ago, Ravens Assistant Offensive Line Coach Shawn Flaherty told first-round rookie guard Vega Ioane he should get a few snaps in at practice.
"Just in case. You never know what could happen," he said.
Turns out, the just-in-case scenario happened.
Baltimore had two centers leave Sunday's 34-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys with injuries. Starter Jovaughn Gwyn was carted off in the second half with an ankle injury. Then, his replacement, Ethan Pocic, left with a knee injury late in the fourth quarter.
Step right up, rookie. For the first time in a regular-season game, Ioane looked to his left and saw guard John Simpson and left tackle Carson Vinson.
"I looked over at them, and they weren't worried about anything, so what do I have to be worried about?" Ioane said. "It is unfortunate how it happened, but you just got to step up and be ready for the moment."
Ioane took the snaps on the Ravens' final touchdown drive, which ended in them retaking the lead with less than two minutes left. He snapped on eight plays, starting with a shotgun pass that was a tad low, but Lamar Jackson had no issue with it.
In a wild game, Ioane's relief duty didn't even seem that crazy â except it is.
"Obviously, you don't go into a game and hope that that happens, but Vega, man, again â whatever it takes for the team to be successful, I think that was his mindset," Head Coach Jesse Minter said.
Minter said he didn't have any postgame health updates on Gwyn or Pocic. Regardless, the Ravens have now had three centers â all three players signed to be replacements for departed Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum â go down with injuries.
Danny Pinter was in line to be the Ravens' Week 1 starting center before he suffered a knee injury in joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Ravens turned to Gwyn, and then to Pocic only briefly. Baltimore signed Pocic on July 23 as more veteran insurance, as he had 97 career starts but was coming off a torn Achilles suffered last December. He was getting back up to full strength.
If Gwyn and/or Pocic are going to miss extended time, the Ravens will have to go back to the drawing board at center. They do not have another center on the practice squad, and Corey Bullock, who was Linderbaum's backup last year, did not make the original 53-man roster this summer and is now with the Carolina Panthers.
