Once upon a time the New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in front of a prime time, national audience. Rookies Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo celebrated on the field like the transformative heroes they seemed to be. The sun seemed to finally be coming up for the Giants after more than a decade spent mostly in the dark.
Dart was talking bravely, and maybe naively, about not caring about the franchise’s past and wanting, along with Skattebo, to be part of changing the negative narrative.
Eight games and more than two months later, things are different.
The Giants have not won since that Week 6 victory over the Eagles. Skattebo is gone, the cruelty of the NFL showing up two weeks after that celebration when he suffered a gruesome ankle injury against those same Eagles. Head coach Brian Daboll, who advocated for the drafting of Dart and seemed like he was a good match for the young quarterback, is gone for justifiable reasons well beyond the quarterback. The GM who engineered a draft-day trade to make Dart a Giant might soon be gone, too.
Dart remains the franchise’s bright light. The beacon who might be able to be centerpieces of an eventual resurrection. We don’t know that yet. We don’t know if Dart is going to be Eli Manning, Daniel Jones, or something in-between.
From this vantage point, I do think we know that talking about drafting Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and replacing Dart is silly. The Giants need to build around Dart, see what he can become, and see where he can take them.
Sunday evening, though, after another disheartening defeat, something else became clear. The Giants need to worry about not only about Dart’s body getting broken before we get to see what he can become with a proper team around him. They need to worry about his spirit getting broken, too.
“Still learning” how to deal with losing
Dart’s spirit isn’t broken yet, though the reality of his current circumstances has settled in. He said Sunday night that he is “still learning” how to handle the Giants’ reality.
“I haven’t gone this long without a win in my career,” Dart said. “You definitely try to obviously learn from the things that you didn’t play well enough from. I’m trying to just live week to week and trying to get a little bit of motivation, be a little bit of a spark, just trying to communicate as positively as I can. These hurt, so you’ve got to try to take it for what it is and try to rally the troops to get better for the next week.”
Dart is doing the only thing he can — work.
“You just have frustrations that mound up. For me, I try to work harder every day. I try to turn those feelings and these results into motivation,” Dart said. “I love this game, I love coming to work every day, I love my teammates. So, I’m never going to be somebody that’s just discouraged completely and have it have anything to do with my daily habits. I’m just trying to continue to work harder.”
Dart admitted it isn’t hard to figure out why the Giants are losing games.
“I think that our losses have been pretty simple for the most part of just us not being a team that finishes consistently in the fourth quarter. I think that that’s just the reason. That’s what we have to fix,” he said. “I think that when you watch back the tape, you understand why we’re not winning games and it’s little plays that you have to make, and the other team is making, and we’re not.”
“Weird” concussion check irks quarterback
Dart, who recently missed two games with a concussion, was forced from the game for two plays after taking a hit on first-and-goal at the 1-yard line with the Giants trying to cut into a 15-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.
“I’m not really sure what the reason was I had to come out of the game,” Dart said. “It was just a really – it was weird. I don’t understand it.
“I mean, you don’t just see people getting taken out of the game like that. I definitely feel like there’s a sensitivity for some reason.”
The Giants tried a trick play, what interim head coach Mike Kafka called “a little pop pass.” When it wasn’t open, Dart kept the ball and lost a yard. He was then forced off the field and into the medical tent. He returned on fourth down and threw an incomplete pass from the 4-yard line.
“This definitely wasn’t the first time that I’ve been surprised that I’ve had to come out. But I was definitely surprised, just didn’t feel like it was that big of a hit at all,” Dart said. “Obviously, just the situation that we were in too, first-and-goal on the two, that’s a big thing that happens in the game. So, I was definitely surprised.”
Dart has now undergone concussion checks on roughly a half-dozen occasions dating back to preseason. What can he do at this point?
“Maybe just run the other way,” he said. “I have no idea.”
A brighter future?
Dart still believes there will be one for the Giants.
“It’s definitely tough. I’m not going to talk around it. It’s definitely tough, but the only thing that we can do is come back into the facility for the next week and prepare even harder and just continue to try to learn,” Dart said. “I know that this isn’t going to be the case for the future and things are going to eventually turn around. I definitely have that in my mind, but obviously as a team, we want to get that switched immediately.”
Many of the lessons Dart has learned this season about the harsh realities of the NFL are not lessons he wanted. Let’s hope the young man comes through the mess intact, physically and emotionally, until whenever those brighter days come for the Giants.
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