ANN ARBOR >> Jack Tuttle has been taking the mental reps of a starting quarterback this season. He couldn’t help that his body wasn’t completely healthy and he wasn’t able to fully participate in practice.

That was until last week, when he was getting reps as Michigan prepared to play at Washington. Tuttle, who has been dealing with shoulder and elbow issues and missed spring practice and most of preseason camp, became the Wolverines’ third quarterback to play this season when he entered the game last weekend.

With Michigan trailing 14-0, Tuttle came in and led the team on three straight scoring drives to take the lead. He had two costly fourth-quarter turnovers, however, and Michigan suffered its second loss of the season.

Tuttle, a 25-year-old playing his seventh season of college football, is preparing to start for No. 24 Michigan when it begins the second half of the regular season on Oct. 19 at Illinois. Davis Warren started the first three games and Alex Orji the next three for the Wolverines (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten).

“It’s super exciting to be presented this opportunity,” Tuttle told reporters this week. “But I really think even when I was hurt, I was still preparing like I was going to play. I didn’t know if I was ever going to play or not, so that part doesn’t really change for me. But (the change now is) just getting more live reps and being with the guys, more chemistry. Finding ourselves is really what we’re trying to do over the bye.”

Tuttle’s turnovers were costly in the loss, and Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said Tuttle was beating up on himself for the errors. Moore said on the “Inside Michigan Football” radio show that he called Tuttle on Sunday night.

“(I told) him, ‘Hey, we got your back. You’re good,’” Moore said. “He only practiced for a week and a half, really, and to get him back was a huge boost for us. We’ll continue to get better and build stuff around him to make him better and make our team better and let our other guys be playmakers.”

After beginning his college career at Utah, Tuttle transferred to Indiana (2019-22), where he played in 15 games with five starts and was voted a captain. He transferred to Michigan before the 2023 season knowing he’d be a backup to J.J. McCarthy and entered this season — he received a medical waiver in February for the seventh season and otherwise likely would have pursued a coaching career — as the only Michigan quarterback with starting experience.

Even after only practicing a week and then coming in at Washington to give the offense a lift, the mistakes loomed large for Tuttle because he’s at an age and the part of his playing career where all opportunities feel like a bonus. He wants to take advantage of them and anything less than perfect hurts more.

“I don’t know if you ever truly release it,” Tuttle said of the turnovers. “Mentally, you get over it. You don’t beat yourself up anymore, but you also want to compartmentalize it in your head so you don’t ever do it again. You’re obviously always going to make mistakes, but holding onto the ball, everything is going fast, it’s two or three plays in a game that can change it. You want to minimize those mistakes, learn from them.”

In practice, you take from those mistakes, and you do everything you can ball security-wise, reads, and that’s it. That’s all you can do.”

There’s a maturity to the way Tuttle carries himself. Being 25 can do that.

“Don’t feel a lot older,” Tuttle said, starting to smile, “and then a guy that’s like seven years younger than you has a different language and says something, and you’re like, ‘What does that mean?’”

Safety Quinten Johnson was asked if Tuttle seems 25.

“Yes,” Johnson said quickly. “It seems like he’s 40.”

Tuttle has played, seen and studied a lot of football. When he took the field at Washington, he looked like a more mature quarterback because of his experience. That wasn’t lost on his teammates. Immediately after the loss, running back Donovan Edwards praised Tuttle for how he took over the huddle as soon as he came in, demanding attention and focus.

“He can attack the game from a more mature standpoint,” Johnson said. “Regardless when he was the third-string QB or he wasn’t playing, second-string or first-string or even if he wasn’t in that top-three rotation, it’s still the same guy. That’s something all the guys should embody is no matter where you are on the depth chart, you’re still the same person every day. It’s the same Jack Tuttle when he was taking snaps versus when he wasn’t taking snaps. There’s not a huge difference from that perspective.”

As far as his injuries, and he’s had a few dating back to his time at Indiana, Tuttle chooses not to discuss them. The other injuries helped him, he said, prepare for dealing with his latest issue. He tried hard to get back sooner, but he could not control how his body would rebound from injury.

“I really had no idea when I was going to be ready and neither did any of the coaches, the players,” Tuttle said. “Just prayers. Took some divine intervention for me. That’s what I believe, and it happened.”

There were times he doubted whether he could get back, but when he was able to finally throw again, it was special.

“It felt great,” he said. “You don’t realize how good you had it and have it in your worst moment.”

Tuttle now has the keys to a Michigan offense that has struggled mightily this season. The Wolverines rank 118th nationally in total offense (306.3 yards per game) and 129th in passing (115 yards). The run game has been the one consistent aspect of the offense, thanks in large part to Kalel Mullings, and ranks 38th (191.3 yards). Michigan needs to find a better run-pass balance and get better protection from the offensive line in the second half of the season.

Tuttle is happy to get this chance. To reach to this point, he has leaned on his faith.

“I don’t think I’d be here today without my faith,” he said. “There’s a lot of moments in the past nine months where it was challenging mentally and getting through that leaning on God in that moment. There’s some divine intervention with me being able to throw again today. I’m just lucky to be here, lucky to be able to throw and have this opportunity at Michigan.”