Offensive lineman Kyler Schott, sporting a walking boot on his right foot, used crutches to work his way onto the practice field during Iowa football’s media day on Friday after breaking his foot while baling hay on his family farm earlier this summer.

“If that ain’t an Iowa injury,” Schott said, “I don’t know what is.”

Iowa’s players had a week off from team activities before starting training camp on Aug. 5. During that time, Schott was home in Coggon, Iowa, helping his father with farm work when he did something he said he’s done 1,000 times: jump off a hay bale.

Schott, the team’s first-team right guard who has started 11 games over the past two seasons, jumped down off of a roughly six-foot tall hay bale and landed awkwardly on his foot, breaking the same bone in his right foot that he broke in his left foot in 2019.

Right as he hit the ground, Schott knew something in his foot was broken. He called head trainer Kammy Powell and was taken in for X-rays the next day.

“I think he’s the first guy, at least in 23 years [as Iowa’s head coach], I can remember that got injured baling hay,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “He’s probably going to miss some playing time early in this season. I can’t tell you when, if it’ll be the second week, third week, or fourth week. But we expect him back somewhere in the first portion of the season, but he will not be ready early, at least I think that would be a real long shot to expect him to be ready for the first game.”

Schott said he hopes to be back by Week 2. Iowa opens the 2021 campaign Sept. 4 against Indiana. The team’s second game of the season will be played Sept. 11 against Iowa State.

A Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List member, Schott described the injury as a frustrating way to begin his senior season. But the 6-foot-2, 294-pound guard isn’t dwelling on the injury as much as he’s focusing on preparing his teammates on the offensive line for the Hoosiers.

Ferentz said Justin Britt, a sophomore, will slide into Schott’s starting spot up front.

“You never want injuries to happen, but that is a good reminder for all of us,” Ferentz said. “I tell our team all the time this could happen anytime. It could be a Friday before a game. You just never know. So people have to be ready.”

“Anytime you have those scenarios, you hate it for the person who has to sit out, but that’s how you strengthen your room and strengthen the position,” first-year Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett added. “Justin has stepped in and every day he’s just working hard and learning. He’s got tremendous energy. He’s given every day just what you would expect.”

Cody Ince is currently the listed starter at left guard, although he can play at any of the five positions along the offensive line.

Schott joined the Iowa program as a walk-on out of North Linn High School. He first saw game action as a starter during his redshirt sophomore season because the Hawkeyes were dealing with injuries, but played well enough to be put on scholarship.

This offseason, Pro Football Focus ranked Schott as the eighth-best interior lineman returning in all of college football. Now, Schott will likely spend the first week of the season — and potentially longer — on the sideline.

When he’s ready to put on his pads again, Schott doesn’t want to be handed anything.

“My plan is I’m going to have to battle to get my spot back,” Schott said. “That’s my hope. I shouldn’t just get to come back and be the guy. My hope is that I have to battle to get my spot back because Justin Britt or whoever is in there is playing super well.”