Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.

He is in the middle of it now, for the first time.

Starting Sunday afternoon, there will be Mike Kafka, Giants offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, down on the visiting team sideline at Northwest Stadium, headset on, play sheet in his hands, ready to give quarterback Russell Wilson the instructions he needs to get the Giants moving down the field and, once in a while, at least, into the end zone.

This is a departure from the way it has been for the past three seasons. Sure, Kafka called the plays in 2022 and most of 2023, with Brian Daboll taking back the responsibilities in 2024. In all three of those years, Kafka spent game days up in the press box, in a climate-controlled environment allowing for calm and relative silence, far above the action.

“It is more quiet up there,” Kafka said Thursday. “I don’t know if that’s a drawback. I’m just trying to find some of the things that are differences.”