The New York Giants are getting one of their starting offensive linemen back this week. According to our good friend Dan Duggan, starting center John Michael Schmitz was back at practice, participating in team drills on Monday:
Good news on the injury front: C John Michael Schmitz (concussion), C Lucas Patrick (knee), CB Greg Newsome (knee), C Dru Phillips (knee) and CB Paulson Adebo (hamstring) were back in team drills.
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) August 17, 2026
Schmitz suffered a concussion on August 7 during an 11-on-11 rushing drill at training camp. The 27-year-old took a big blow to the helmet, which head coach John Harbaugh later described as getting his "bell rung." Schmitz was slow to get up and was walked off the field by a trainer. He was evaluated in the blue medical tent and subsequently entered the concussion protocol.
The timing couldn't have been any worse for JMS with the preseason ramping up. While he missed Saturday's bout against the Minnesota Vikings, Duggan's update suggests he could be ready to go for their second preseason game against the Miami Dolphins.
Giants need more than just good health from John Michael Schmitz
JMS is a curious case for the Giants. They need him healthy, but he's also replaceable. After being selected with the 57th pick in the 2023 Draft, it's been a steady dose of mediocre center play.
Health is becoming a glaring issue for the former Minnesota standout -- he has missed 10 games over the last three years, sitting out at least two in every season. Just last year, Schmitz missed two games early in the season with a concussion before a finger/hand injury eventually ended his year on IR.
New York signed 10-year NFL journeyman Lucas Patrick earlier this offseason to compete for the backup role behind Schmitz, but he's been dealing with ongoing knee issues that have forced him to miss practice time and the preseason opener against Minnesota, too.
He was also back at team drills on Monday after receiving a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection to help his knee recover and chill out a bit.
That left backup-to-the-backup Bryan Hudson as the lone wolf holding down the center spot. With the perfect opportunity in front of him, the 2024 undrafted free agent out of Louisville didn’t exactly run away with it. He played 33 snaps, finishing with a middle-of-the-road 65.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus (44.4 pass-blocking grade and a 69.4 run-blocking grade).
Hudson was fine, even finishing with the second-highest overall grade among Giants starters behind rookie right guard Francis Mauigoa. But fine isn’t exactly enough to turn a temporary opportunity into a legitimate push for an increased role.
Still, it's good to see Schmitz back and healthy. He enters the final year of his rookie contract with a lot to prove. Spotrac has a current market value on the fourth-year center at three years, $37.3 million ($12.4 million annually). That’s a decent chunk of change for a guy who still hasn’t proven he’s anything more than a below-average starter.
Getting Schmitz back against Miami would be a welcome sight, but this is about much more than preseason Game 2. He’s got an entire season to prove he can stay healthy and convince the G-Men he’s worth keeping around beyond his rookie deal. Saturday would be a pretty good place to start.
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