Jaxson Dart on Making Monday Night Football Debut | New York Giants

Jaxson Dart on Making Monday Night Football Debut | New York Giants

Um, just want to open with something real quick. Um, obviously there’s been a lot that’s happened since I’ve been up here. And, um, you know, I just want to acknowledge, you know, Coach Daves and, you know, all that he did for me. Um, you know, just when I look back on everything, you know, it’s it’s it’s really special to to come to a place um where a coach, you know, genuinely cares about you and loves you and you have that um, you know, personal relationship on and off the field. So, um, you know, I just have all the respect in the world for him. Um, I think he’s an incredible he’s incredible offensive mind. Um, you know, he’s done an amazing job developing up to this point. And, uh, you know, that this this business is a beast, man. And, um, you know, give a shout out to Coach Shane as well. Um, you know, unfortunately, we just weren’t able to get enough wins for them. um uh but at the same time um you got a lot of respect for them and and coach Daves, you know, I don’t you know, who knows if I’m if I’m here so without him. So, you know, I got all the respect and and love for him. So, um with that, I’ll open up questions. What was that like for you just having to experience that? And you were obviously the protocol. Yeah, it’s hard. Um Oh, the protocol. No, no, no, not the protocol, but you were in protocol when this happened and having been injured and and things like that. Yeah, it sucked. Um, like I said, you know, I have a lot of love for Coach Daves and, um, you know, we’re we’re really close. So, um, to kind of see it go down that way, um, you know, especially my rookie year was hard. So, um, you know, just trying to control what I can control, you know, take the next steps, but, um, you know, just, you know, wish we could have could have done more as players to get more wins for him. As you said, a lot has happened since last time we spoke to you. Can you take us back to the Bears game and just what happened from, you know, the play you get hurt, but then you come back in the game just like what happened there from your perspective? Uh, obviously I just, you know, wasn’t feeling too great. Um, I thought, you know, honestly, our medical staff did a really good job cuz, you know, I wasn’t in a good space to to be out there. And, um, you know, obviously that game just sucked cuz, you know, we had control. Uh quite honestly, I feel like they could not stop me. They couldn’t stop us as a team. Um so, you know, that that one hurt for sure. And uh you know, you wish plays like that, you know, wouldn’t happen. And um you can finish the finish the game with your team. Were you unconscious at all? It looked like when you hit the ground, you didn’t even move for the ball. I didn’t I didn’t feel like I was unconscious. Um just just didn’t feel the same. You learn anything from that whole experience? I mean, I know you obviously guys want to play, right? And but did you learn is there anything you take from that and say maybe next time I got to do do things a little different or I mean I don’t regret I mean the only thing about that play is the ball got knocked out of my hands and when you’re kind of lose control of the ball you’re not really thinking about bracing for the ground. Um, you know, when I watch the whole game and it’s kind of been a point of emphasis, you know, going to each game of, you know, just being smarter with the hits that I take. And when I look back at the game, like there’s not a hit where I’m like, dang, I shouldn’t have taken that hit to be honest. Like, you know, I felt like I was making smart decisions. I didn’t take really any unnecessary hits. And it was just a situation where, you know, you kind of lose control of your body when you fumble it and, uh, you’re not really bracing for the ground. Um, but obviously, you know, moving forward, you know, I got to be more available for the for this team. So, you know, that’s obviously on the forefront of my mind going forward. Is that the lesson you’re taking from it all that like, hey, you know, Jameus said, you know, availability is the best ability. Is that sort of how you’re applying it moving forward? No. Yeah, absolutely. John, you you know, you’re not a doctor, but by hearing what you’re saying, it sounded like you feel like you got hurt by hitting the ground the way your head hit the ground. Yeah. Mhm. uh in terms of, you know, getting ready to play and not trying to put everything in the past, but walking out here on the practice field knowing you have a chance to now play, what what’s your mindset? What’s your mind frame in terms of, you know, getting out there on Monday night? Yeah, man. I’m I’m ready. I’ve been waiting for it. Um you know, obviously these prime time games are ones that you have circled on your calendar. So, um, excited to go out there, go compete at a high level and, um, do everything, you know, my power to, you know, rally these guys, um, to put our team in the best situation, you know, when the clock hits zero, that, you know, we’re going to come out with a win. What happened from your perspective last week, Jackson, cuz like it seemed like Wednesday, Kfka said, if everything goes well, you’re going to play. And then it seemed like, you know, you took a lot of the first team reps and then you didn’t play. Um, you know, that’s that’s a hard question because, you know, just for me, you know, I feel like I I can go and I feel like I can go the week before, too. But, um, obviously there’s there’s protocols and, um, there’s different tests that you you have to pass and, um, you know, our medical our medical team does a really good job making sure that, um, you know, we meet all those requirements to be out there on the field. But, um, it’s been hard, man. Like, I I can’t stand sitting on the sideline watching. Um, but you know, I just, you know, credit to those guys. You know, maybe in the moment I wasn’t the happiest, but um, you know, they’re they’re overlooking our health and and our safety. You mentioned being patient. I guess how you mentioned how difficult that is, but just take us through that. How difficult is it just to kind of have to be like you can’t play when you want to, even though you have that drive like I feel ready, but how is that like for you to be patient and have to like wait and wait until they clear you? It’s hard. Um, I feel like every day goes by slower. Um, and you’re just you’re hoping and praying that, you know, you’re going to go in and pass your your test to to make it. So, um, I think I bit more nails off my fingers than I have in a long time being on the sideline watching. But, um, yeah, it’s definitely not fun to to feel like you have, you know, no control over the outcome of the game. Um, but you just try to be the best teammate that you can. This is obviously the first concussion you’re diagnosed with since you’ve been here. Have you had any in the past? College, high school? Uh, no. When it comes to the situation now, I mean, Day’s gone, but Cfka is still here. What are you expecting it to be kind of or has it been the two weeks similar to, you know, everything that you got used to with Dayball? Yeah, I mean, um, you know, Cap’s been in the system for, you know, a few years now. So, um, he understands it obviously like the back of his hand and, uh, you know, maybe there’s a few little, you know, tweaks that you have, um, from just like preference as a as a coach may feel, but, um, you know, I think, you know, I have all the confidence in the world in CF and thought he’s just done a great job this really this whole year. How has that relationship been? Obviously, you and Dable were close, you and Cath are close, but just kind of how has that relationship been close and how has it been getting closer these last two weeks? Yeah, obviously these last two weeks it’s just more and more communication. Um, you know, I think CF is one of the best coordinators in the NFL. Um, you can look at that, you know, from a player perspective as well as, you know, statistically and number-wise, I think he does a great job. So, um, you know, as an offense, as as a team, we have a ton of confidence in him that he’s going to put us in the right situations to succeed. I’ll take three more. I know obviously in that last game you said you were getting down. you thought you you didn’t think any of the hits were ones that you you know were your fault like you shouldn’t have taken there but do you look at it as a whole after seeing the totality of all like four concussion checks in an eightgame stretch that you have to change anything with the way you play at all? Yeah. Well, the narrative is not, you know, necessarily accurate of four concussion checks. Um, you know, I I was taken into the tent for, you know, three of those times for, you know, things that had nothing to do with my head. And, um, you know, that’s just kind of, you know, they have their own operation of, you know, kind of how they handle things. So, um, you know, I’m still getting used to this game. I’m getting used to the speed of, you know, at this level. And in college, you can watch my tape. I, you know, I very rarely slid. Um, you know, but this is a different beast. So, um, I, you know, for me, I got to be, you know, obviously a little bit more responsible, you know, when I’m in the open field. Um, but I felt like, you know, quite honestly, I was getting better at it each and every week. What were the other thing? Yeah. What were those other things you were checked for? If not concussion, because we were told you had cleared protocol. What do you mean? We get an alert. I’m pretty sure some of those we were told we you went through concussion protocol just on the sidelines. We get an alert like in the media area. Yeah. I mean, they have, you know, one time I’m just tired against the Chargers. The other one has, you know, other things that have nothing to do with my head. So, um, you know, they have their own formula of how they handle those things, but, you know, the narrative of me having four concussion checks, um, because of something that happened with my head is not true. Jackson, last one. You were in the locker room last week and the scene becomes all too familiar for you guys. When you’re around, you’re not, you know, you’re talking to some of your guys, but you weren’t in the game. What What is that like? And h how does that affect you as a competitor to go through what this team has gone through especially the last six weeks but really all all season? Yeah, the season so far has been tough because you know, our record could completely be flipped the other way and everybody here is in a completely different state of mind and um but you know, I’ve just come to realize that you know in the NFL if you don’t make those crunch time you know moment plays then the other team does you’re going to lose and it doesn’t really matter how well you play up until the end of the game. So, um, at times it honestly is it doesn’t even feel real cuz, you know, you feel like you’re in control of the entire game and somehow things just don’t work. Um, that’s just, you know, the beauty of the sport is it could go one way, it could go the other way. And when you’re playing at this level of competition, especially for me, I’ve come to realize that, um, you know, it doesn’t matter, you know, how you play at all until, you know, who scores last, who has the ball last, and, um, who makes that, you know, last crucial play at the end of the game. How many times has your How many times has your head been or have you been evaluated for a concussion then? I don’t know. It’s a good question. Felt good though.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart speaks to the media Friday from the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

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