New York Giants
rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart made it known multiple times this week that he doesn’t plan to drastically alter his playing style amid concerns about his long-term health.
Current New York Jets veteran signal-caller Tyrod Taylor spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Giants. On Wednesday, Taylor shared a blunt warning for Dart regarding the 22-year-old’s future.
Tyrod Taylor reminds Jaxson Dart about a quarterback’s “best ability”
“You never want to take away what makes a guy special,” Taylor said about Dart, per Tom Rock of Newsday. “My advice to him would be to be smart about those [hits]. Over the course of a season, over the course of a career, those add up. Your best ability is availability. You want to be out there for the guys making plays and by all means do what feels natural, but understand the toll it takes when you continue to take hits.”
The Giants reportedly asked Dart to be more cautious during games after he was checked for a concussion on four occasions from the preseason up until he was knocked out of New York’s Week 10 loss at the Chicago Bears on Nov. 9. That head injury sidelined Dart for a pair of contests, and he then took a crunching hit on a scramble down the sideline in the first quarter of the Giants’ loss to the New England Patriots in Week 13.
Dart could’ve avoided contact on that play by stepping out of bounds a yard or two before he was hit. After the game, he sarcastically remarked that he and his teammates aren’t “playing soccer out here.” He later pointed out that MVP-caliber quarterbacks such as Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes “take hits too.”
Tyrod Taylor wants Jaxson Dart to be smart
“Sometimes you can’t avoid it,” Taylor said about quarterbacks taking hits. “The game is violent, and it’s fast, and sometimes we can’t always see what is coming at us in the pocket, blindside hits. But whenever you are moving, and you have a chance to extend plays, you have to be smart with doing so. You want to pick and choose. …There is a learning curve that comes with that, and hopefully [Dart] learns sooner than not because he’s a special player. His team is better when he is available.”
Dart entered the Giants’ Week 14 bye healthy, meaning he is on track to start when Big Blue hosts the Washington Commanders on Dec. 14. One can’t help but wonder if Giants fans will spend portions of that game holding their breaths whenever Dart leaves the pocket.