Jaxson Dart shook off a first-quarter injury scare to deliver a picturesque touchdown pass for the Giants in New York head coach John Harbaugh’s preseason debut for Big Blue.
Facing the visiting Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium, Dart ended the first frame on his back after failing to pick up blitzing safety Jay Ward.
‘Dart gets blasted,’ Giants play-by-play announcer Bob Papa said alongside former Giants stars Carl Banks and Phil Simms.
As he had to do on several occasions last season, Dart was ushered into the medical tent for a concussion test.
Fortunately for Harbaugh, the Giants and the army of anxious fans, Dart cleared the concussion protocol to return two plays later. And in doing so, he would whet fans’ collective appetite for the upcoming season.
Rolling to his left from the 15-yard line, Dart floated the ball into a crowded end zone, where rookie third-round pick Malachi Fields managed to come down with the football.
Jaxson Dart shook off a first-quarter injury scare to deliver a picturesque touchdown pass for the Giants in New York head coach John Harbaugh’s preseason debut for Big Blue
Facing the visiting Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium, Dart ended the first frame on his back after failing to pick up blitzing safety Jay Ward
Two plays after going down, Dart scrambled left before delivering a pretty touchdown pass
‘Dart is already really showing that he’s a starter-quality QB,’ one fan gushed about the second-year signal caller. ‘I think he’s gonna have a long, solid career in the NFL.’
‘Not many [quarterbacks] turn that into a TD,’ another added. ‘Jaxson dart does.’
One fan declared the ‘level of difficulty was ridiculous,’ before adding: ‘Dart is making these throws look way too easy.’
Dart was pulled after completing 3 of 4 passes for 26 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.
The Ole Miss product has become a fan favorite of frustrated Giants fans, as well as President Donald Trump, who had Dart introduce him at a recent rally.
Asked by ESPN for his Super Bowl favorites heading into the season, Trump said this week that ‘New England looks good,’ the ‘LA Rams are looking very strong,’ and included the Giants as well.
‘I like their quarterback a lot,’ Trump said.
Jaxson Dart is helped off the field after being sacked by Minnesota Vikings’ Jay Ward
Dart introduces President Donald Trump during a Fighting For American Workers event in May
Dart and Trump have developed into an offseason storyline after the young Giants quarterback introduced the President at a Republican rally in Suffern, New York on May 22.
Trump later fawned over Dart, saying in the Oval Office: ‘The quarterback Jaxson was the quarter— is the quarterback for the Giants. He’s a big, strong guy.
‘And I said, “How do you think you do in women’s sports, Jaxson?” He said, “Pretty good, sir.” He didn’t know I was joking. He was not worried. Let me put it that way.
‘He would have been the greatest athlete in the history of women’s sports. You got to see the size of this guy, like a male model, and he’s going to be a great quarterback.’
Dart’s appearance caused a rift in the Giants locker room, with defensive star Abdul Carter publicly calling him out, writing: ‘Thought this s*** was AI, what we doing man,’ in an X post he later deleted.
Both players later addressed the controversy at OTAs in May, with neither fully backing down or admitting wrongdoing but insisting their difference in political opinion would have no impact on the Giants locker room.
‘Some things are bigger than football, and this is one of those things,’ Carter said. ‘Jaxson is one of our leaders. He’s the face of our franchise.
