The summer of Jaxson Dart continued on Thursday in the Giants’ preseason finale against the New England Patriots, and just like it has been all summer long, it was a hit.
The rookie quarterback had another strong game for New York. Dart, who started the game, completed 6-of-12 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown, and he also rushed for 23 yards in less than one quarter of action as the Giants defeated the Patriots 42-10 at MetLife Stadium.
Dart finished the three-game preseason, completing 32-of-47 passes for 372 yards with four total touchdowns.
Unfortunately, Dart left the game after getting the wind knocked out of him following a big hit on a 23-yard scramble. Dart thought he could avoid the big hit, which is why he did not slide.
“I quite honestly felt like I could split them when I saw the open field,” he said. “Honestly, in this situation, I didn’t feel like I was in too much of a threat to get a big hit on me. But I think that quite honestly, like it’s just situation based. If you’re going to take a big hit, then you slide. I didn’t feel like I was in a situation where I was going to take a really big hit, so I felt like I could extend the play and make something out of it.”
Giants head coach Brian Daboll says Dart is learning and getting better.
“Every day we’re learning something,” Daboll said. “For example, I put him out there for the coin toss today, and he’s running up to me, what do you want me to do again? I’ve never done this before. Just the last second I told him, you’re going out there, right when I got here today, a few minutes before we went out there. So he’s thinking about that. Just try to do things that may come up one day with him. We’ll keep on building him… Being a rookie quarterback is not easy. Being a quarterback is not easy. He knows he has a lot of things to work on, but he’s made progress every day. I’m glad we drafted him and I’m glad he’s our guy.”
Having been a starter his whole life, Dart now transitions to the bench as Russell Wilson takes over as the team’s starting quarterback, which is fine for the 22-year-old Dart.
“I’m just shifting my perspective to be the best teammate that I can be,” Dart said. “Russ has completely earned that role, and he’s played amazing, played elite. So for me, I just want to be the best teammate, and I just want this team to win. Whatever my role is for that to happen, I’m going to do that to the best of my ability.”
If things go south for New York, we’ll see Dart this season, but if Wilson is effective, the Giants will keep their rookie on ice, which is the ideal situation for this team.
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