‘I wouldn’t coach it out of him’ – Giants HC Brian Daboll sends strong message on Jaxson Dart’s potential flaw after preseason win
New York Giants rookie Jaxson Dart had a key issue pop up in their win against the New England Patriots, and Brian Daboll addressed it after the game.
New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart had a fantastic preseason. Through three games, he finished with 372 yards, four touchdowns, and completed 68% of his passes.
More importantly, Dart was aggressive as a passer when needed to attack tight windows. The decisiveness was a layer to his game that many thought would take time to develop. Dart flashed the willingness to take risks and to attack opposing secondaries.
He also received criticism for his risk-taking as a runner when he opted not to slide multiple times this preseason. In their 42-10 victory against the New England Patriots, Dart nearly fumbled and was ushered off the field after a hit he took that was easily avoidable.
After the game, head coach Brian Daboll and Dart both addressed the issue.
Daboll doesn’t want Dart to lose his competitiveness
Dart attacked an open lane on a fourth and four, which led to a massive gain. That gain would have been enough, but Dart chose to stay up to fight for extra yards. While there is truth to wanting Dart to be more cautious, Daboll doesn’t want to coach that mentality to fight out of him.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t coach it out of him. Just certain times that you’ve got to make the right decision. I’d say in this particular game, it’s probably a good time to slide.”
Overcoaching is an issue that doesn’t get much recognition in the NFL. It can turn any young athlete into a timid and confused mess. Daboll is right to encourage Dart to be smarter, but not to avoid contact altogether. To his credit, he was spotted on the broadcast directing Dart to slide.
Daboll elaborated by saying he loves Dart’s key mental traits and doesn’t want to change them.
“You’d like to take as few hits as you can, but I like Jaxson’s competitiveness, his toughness. You’ve got to make the right decision. Those are split-second decisions. So I trust him … But I’ll never take his competitiveness.”
Understanding how to approach and handle particular situations requires more live bullets in games. Dart will eventually have improved judgment in these situations.
After the game, Dart addressed what was going through his head on the play and appeared more hung up on the fact that he fumbled than on the hit he took.
“In that situation, I didn’t feel like I was in too much of a threat to get a big hit on me … If you’re going to take a big hit, then yeah, you slide. But I didn’t feel like I was in a situation where I was going to take a big hit. So I felt like I could, you know, kind of extend the play, maybe make something out of it, just hold on to the ball.”
Sadly, Thursday’s game marks the end of a multi-game stretch during which we’ll get to see Dart play now that the regular season is around the corner. Hopefully, that competitiveness will show up when he earns his first start for the Giants midway through the year.
