Replacing Tyler Linderbaum at center was always going to be a chore. But even the Baltimore Ravens couldn’t have imagined how difficult it has become.

After the thrilling high of a 34-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys on a field goal as time expired, the Ravens are being brought down to earth by injuries along their offensive line. Starting center Jovaughn Gwyn and backup Ethan Pocic both exited the Week 3 game in Rio de Janeiro with injuries that now may keep them sidelined long-term.

Gwyn was carted off the field with what the Ravens described as an ankle injury, while Pocic took a hit to the knee of the same leg where he suffered an Achilles rupture last season. Both started training camp as reserves behind Danny Pinter, who tore his patellar tendon during camp and has already been ruled out for the year.

Coach Jesse Minter said the team is evaluating its options to add offensive linemen to the roster. But it could fall to rookie first-round pick Vega Ioane to start at center after he moved over from guard to finish the game against the Cowboys.

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“He’ll be prepared and he’ll prepare to potentially play that position,” Minter said. “We’ll figure out the best five guys to put out there for this particular week, as we may add a piece or two.”

Minter didn’t disclose the injury timelines for either Gwyn or Pocic but said both could be candidates for injured reserve — a minimum absence of four weeks.

Ioane came as a highly touted prospect from Penn State who has had some rookie struggles in pass blocking. Of the Ravens’ Week 1 starters, he is the team’s second-lowest-graded pass blocker, according to Pro Football Focus, in front of only Gwyn. When Ioane moved to center on Sunday night, his right guard spot was filled by Andrew Vorhees, a starting guard last season who could not reclaim his job in camp.

Minter credited Ioane for being prepared to be the team’s emergency center on Sunday, filling in during the team’s final two scoring drives. Offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford had worked Ioane into third-string center duty after practice squad center Corey Bullock was claimed by the Carolina Panthers at the end of August.

“Once we lost Danny and we were kind of down to the two, you always want to have that third guy,” Minter said. “He went in there in a couple of critical moments of the game.”

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Baltimore is feeling the strain of injuries elsewhere on its line: Ronnie Stanley left partway through a Week 2 loss to the New Orleans Saints and sat out Week 3 with a toe injury. While Minter gave credit to fill-in starter Carson Vinson for his performance, he sounded optimistic that Stanley might be able to return: “I think it was a good opportunity to allow this [injury] to be something that he might not have to deal with just over and over again — that it gave it a chance to hopefully get right.”

The Ravens already have dredged the depths of the center market, only signing Pocic days before the start of training camp in July. It’s unclear whether any free agent center is a viable option to play on Sundays or if the Ravens may poach a center off another team’s practice squad. Baltimore could also look at adding guard depth, where there are potentially free agent additions, if they consider Ioane to be the team’s center for the time being.

The injuries will bring even more uncertainty for a team that has struggled in some short yardage situations. While the Ravens have the second-most rushing yards in the league through three weeks, they turned the ball over on downs facing fourth-and-one situations twice against the Cowboys. Their Week 4 opponent Tennessee is No. 9 in yards per carry (3.6) and features one of the NFL’s elite interior linemen in Jeffery Simmons.

Minter said one of the Ravens players handling the offensive line turnover the best is quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has now taken snaps from four different centers since training camp began.

When Baltimore called a timeout to tend to Pocic’s injury on the field, Jackson took the pause to practice snaps with Ioane on the sideline. When coaches asked how the exchanges were going, Jackson reportedly told them: “I’ll make it work.”

Added Minter: “To me, Lamar’s the ultimate-make-it-work player. He will make it work. He will make it right. That’s how he is. That’s how great of a player he is. He doesn’t let stuff like that bother him. He doesn’t make excuses. He’s just that type of guy.”