When New York Giants starting center John Michael Schmitz left Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles with what would ultimately be ruled a concussion, Austin Schlottmann had not played center in a regular season game since Week 5 of the 2023 season, when he played a single snap for the Minnesota Vikings.
Schlottmann, in fact, had not played in a regular season game since Week 14 of that season, when he played a pair of snaps at left guard for the Vikings.
The moment wasn’t too big for Schlottmann, a 30-year-old journeyman who has played in 74 games with 14 starts in a career that began with the Denver Broncos in 2018.
“I’ve got to do my job,” Schlottmann said from his locker this week. “I think you get ready during the week, like you’re going to play, obviously. You prepare, JMS and I prepare like we’re going to play.
“We work with each other, we help each other out. And then game day, you warm up like you’re going to play. You go out there, run out the tunnel like you’re going to play, and then you’ve just got to stay warm. And as hard as it is, you kind of just have to psych yourself in the middle of the game. Like, all right, I’m playing today, let’s go.”
Schlottmann had one false start penalty when he misinterpreted something quarterback Jaxson Dart was communicating. Otherwise, there were no snap snafus and the offensive line continued to function efficiently with a new man in the middle making the line calls.
“He did what he needed to do, which was to come in and operate at the center for us,” said head coach Brian Daboll. “He did a nice job.”
More than 1,000 snaps of playing experience on offense helped Schlottman understand that “You can’t over-hype it or under-hype it. You’ve got to just go out there and play football. It’s the same game we’ve been playing since I was seven years old.”
Make no mistake, though, Schlottmann was thrilled to be on the football field in a game that counted. He missed most of last season with a broken fibula, playing only three special teams snaps in the 2024 season finale.
“It’s just super exciting to play football,” Schlottmann said. “When you have an injury like that, I’ve had a few injuries, and every time it happens, like, man, this stinks. Am I going to get to play again?
“You never know how you’re going to feel when you get back. So it’s like getting into training camp this year and the preseason and last Thursday, it’s just super fun to play. You’ve got to enjoy it. You’ve got to treat it like it’s your last.”
Schmitz, who is still in the concussion protocol, did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. With several steps yet to clear in the protocol, it seems likely at this point that Schlottmann will be the Giants’ starting center on Sunday against the Broncos.
Schlottmann hopes nobody notices a difference in the performance of the line if it’s him in the middle rather than Schmitz.
“I think the coaches do a good job of installing things, and we do a good job of talking about it, scheme-wise, getting everyone ready to know what to do,” Schlottmann said. “JMS and I work with each other on that, whether it’s memorization or how we’re going to MIKE stuff, and how we’re calling stuff. So we both prepare the same way, so when we’re both in there, we’re saying the same things.
“I think as long as we can do that, it’s kind of a seamless transition, hopefully. That’s kind of what you want. You want it to be as seamless as possible for the other guys, so they’re not, they don’t have to think about, oh, it’s me in there instead of JMS. It should be easy.”
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