Latest Jaxson Dart injury update should excite Giants fans ahead of Monday night matchup vs. Patriots
The Giants shared exciting news on Jaxson Dart ahead of their Monday Night matchup against the Patriots
New York Giants star rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart is officially back for Monday’s game against the New England Patriots.
On Thanksgiving, the team announced on social media that Dart successfully cleared concussion protocol. Today, they made a similar post announcing that interim head coach Mike Kafka confirmed that Dart will start for Monday Night Football. This comes after Kafka shared that Dart was still in concussion protocol on Wednesday.
Now that Dart is back, all attention will be on how he plays and how careful he is. A growing narrative up until his concussion against the Chicago Bears was that Dart was playing too aggressively and risking his health. When asked today by the media if they’re trying to change Dart’s play style, interim offensive coordinator Tim Kelly said they don’t want to sap his aggressiveness.
“I think that’s a big part of playing quarterback in this league, especially starting quarterbacks.
Especially guys that have his mobility, his mindset, his really understanding the value of being available,” Kelly told reporters, “And you’re never going to take that mindset away from him. That’s the main reason as to why he is who he is, but being able to understand when you need to put the cape on and when it’s okay to go ahead and slide.”
Will Jaxson Dart play more carefully?
Kelly hasn’t worked closely with Dart this season, as he was the tight ends coach for most of the year before being named offensive coordinator after Brian Daboll was fired. Amid general concerns about Dart putting his body on the line, Kelly spoke today about how he feels the situation should be handled.
“I think that’s part of the process for these younger quarterbacks coming into the league, is just understanding, you always have that mindset of, I’m going to do everything I can to go get that last yard,” Kelly stated, “Well, a yard with 12 minutes to go in the first quarter is a little bit different than a yard to go with 10 seconds to go in the game. So being able to have some situational awareness there and understand when we need him to put the cape on and when he needs to protect himself.”
Considering how long Dart was out after suffering his concussion, he’ll absolutely need to be more intentional about avoiding contact. The only way he’ll be able to develop and capitalize on the remaining games is if he’s on the field.
When speaking about Dart’s return, Kelly took the opportunity to laud the young signal caller’s intelligence.
“But being able to get him, or get to know him better, and how he sees the game, how he processes what he likes, things along those lines, it’s been really good,” Kelly stated, “He’s a really smart player, really instinctive and sees the field really well. So, it’s been cool.”
Now that Dart is back as the Giants’ starting quarterback, it will be exciting to see how he finishes his rookie year. Hopefully, he can produce more unexpected upsets, starting with Monday night.
New York Giants News
Giants Report Card: Grading the standouts and disappointments of a difficult season after two thirds of the 2025 season have passed
How should we grade the New York Giants two thirds through the NFL season?
