Jaxson Dart on Developing Chemistry with Theo Johnson | New York Giants

Jaxson Dart on Developing Chemistry with Theo Johnson | New York Giants

You talked a lot after the game about, you know, being a leader of the offense and everything. Curious what that process has been like for you because two weeks ago, you know, you were the young guy not playing and now obviously you’re you’re front and center. How have you gone about taking on that role? Um, you know, I I I honestly feel like I kind of take it, you know, pretty naturally. Um, I’ve been I played a lot of football my college career. Um, had a lot of games at different places. uh play at two different schools and um you know I was the the 17-year-old um my freshman year you know doing the same thing. So, uh, I understand just, you know, kind of the role of the quarterback. You know, at the same time, it was great watching, you know, Russ and, you know, kind of how he operated it, which was, you know, just a really good example and, um, which he still does a really good job of it. And then, you know, even Jameus, you know, just taking their advice, seeing how they communicate. So, feel like I I’m in a great room to learn. Um, but at the same time, um, I feel like, you know, it definitely comes naturally to me. feel. How do I feel? Yeah. You listened yesterday like you would have had limited practice with a hamstring injury. Oh, no. I feel good. I’m excited. No chance. So, you know, you have no doubt that you’re going to play obviously. Yeah. Never doubt in a um in a season it’s going to be a lot of firsts. Does a first game against a division component and a Giants rival mean anything or is it just the next game for you? I mean, obviously division divisional games they hold um a little more weight. uh obviously understanding that the history of you know this matchup and the intensity of it um carries weight as well. So I’m really just excited to to get out there on the field um you know Thursday night and you know have a lot of fun competing and um yeah it’s going to be a really cool environment. Do you know the history of it? I mean you know I mean I’m sure they didn’t quiz you on it. I mean is it something you go back and look at? I mean how much do you know as a I mean I don’t know like a ton. I’m a little naive to it just you know me being you know from the west coast and whatnot but obviously you understand growing up you know what rivalries are in in the National Football League and then at the same time you hear um you know New York new jersey people and and you know how they feel about Philadelphia people and vice versa. So um you know I I definitely you know kind of gotten more accustomed to that you know from my time being here. Jack, when you talk about your your first game when you had your first start, it was well, we don’t have a lot of tape on them, but now that you’ve played two games, I would imagine maybe defensive coordinators, especially like this week, might may look to throw some different things at you based on what you’ve shown. Do you think you guys are in a position now, even on a short week, to kind of adapt to what you’ve seen and maybe change some things that you’ve done already? Well, you definitely have to. I mean, each and every week, you know, for everybody around the league, there’s going to be different matchups, different schemes that they bring against teams. So, uh, that’s definitely not out of the ordinary. Um, and I think that, you know, every single week there’s going to be something new that you haven’t seen before. And, um, you just got to be able to to go back to the sideline, be able to adjust. And, um, you know, just like us, they have really good players, really good coaches. So, um, you know, you might get got on a play and you got to be able to make the adjustments for the next series. at the combine. I believe you talked about how much you look up to Jaylen Herd. You said his game, right? Yeah. Can you take us through kind of what that’s like for you just watching him? What do you learn from him? Yeah. I mean, first of all, I I I love his mentality, you know, his, you know, everyday um you know, accountability of himself and at the same time, you know, raising the bar for his teammates. Um so, you know, that was something, you know, as an as an early, you know, college player and being able to to look up to guys like that. Um, so it’s gonna be, you know, really cool to be on the same field with with him and being able to compete against him and, um, you know, at the same time him just being, you know, a really good competitor and, uh, being able to do a lot of things, you know, with his arm and with his legs and putting his team in really good situations to win. How much have you talked to Dave about because obviously Dave worked in college briefly. Yeah, absolutely. I’ve definitely had conversations. cuz I probably had more conversations about it when I was um in the draft process of you know him kind of asking me you know what quarterbacks do I like to watch and and see how they play and um obviously he had that connection so there was definitely you know conversations of that in in the pre-draft. What do you think makes Herz the winner that he is? Yeah, I mean he just he’s able to rally the guys around him. Um, I think that, you know, just kind of the the culture that they’ve built, like regardless of them being in, you know, really tight games. I think that, you know, in those situations, it comes down to the leaders of the team and him being able to, you know, go through adversity, um, you know, during games, during a season, and then just being able to to rally the guys. I think that that was something that really stood out to me. How, uh, how have you responded to your adversity in New Orleans? Yeah, I mean this was, you know, my first loss in in the NFL and um you know, if we’re just being realistic, it’s not going to be, you know, my last. Obviously, you don’t want those things to happen, but um it’s just the the part of the game. So, um you know, just trying to, you know, come back, you know, identify the things I need to work on. Um at the same time, you know, being able to, you know, see the things I did well and then try to carry those over to to the next week. and um you know just the communication with the guys and and trying to just you know um you know keep the confidence high with the with the players on the team and us being able to go out there and execute when we need to. Jackson, you’ve been able to start fast in both your starts, you know, is that something about the first script, the first series, your adrenaline, the the execution? What what what you know, anything about that? Because then later in the game sometimes it’s hard to you know, maintain all that. Yeah, I think that that that just kind of happens in the NFL. like there’s a lot of times where teams will score on their first drive because a lot of times, you know, schematically there new things you just haven’t seen yet. And um it’s not out of the norm for, you know, the game to kind of slow down, you know, with guys and teams making adjustments. It’s which makes us, you know, the best players, best coaches in the world. So, um, you know, I definitely, you know, want to carry that over each and every week because I think it’s important, you know, for us to just start fast and, uh, being able to execute on on those things early. But um at the same time, you know, like you said, we got to continue to make adjustments, clean things up, um and take care of the ball throughout the whole game. How the second interception where Collins kind of stopped. How do you when you watch that back on film, how do you like stay confident in each other to like make the throw the next time cuz really you’re just kind of throwing to a spot there? Like what is that process like kind of dissecting a play like that after the fact? Yeah, Bo’s a really good player and he’s done a lot of really great things. Um obviously me and him are just new to this still. So um you know there’s definitely you know communication things that um we got to clean up and I think that that you know showed in that instance and um you know just as much as you know you know me making a mistake and cleaning up for him and him making a mistake and cleaning up for me like you know those things happen and you just got to be able to you know have those conversations be able to see it through the same lens. So, um, you know, obviously, you know, in game it it definitely, you know, is highlighted. Um, but at the same time, I think, you know, for us just being young and and being able to to clean up on those things early. How are you? We’ll take a few more. How have you and Theo really built your relationship? It seems like you’re getting comfortable with him on the field. Yeah, Theo. I mean, I’ve been high on Theo since I really played against him in college. um you know, we played in the Beach Bowl and he had a touchdown and um you know, I I think just as a player, as a competitor, you’re able to, you know, see guys who, you know, do a lot of really good things even if they were on a different team. So, I’ve known about him since college and um obviously, you know, you know, what stood out initially was, you know, his combine numbers and, you know, just athletic he was. So, I was really excited coming in um here to, you know, be able to be on the same field with him. And um you know, he’s been nothing but, you know, just hardworking and a guy who you can really trust out there on the field. So, I look forward to, you know, continuing to to develop our timing, our relationship with each other and um you know, just excited to be able to play with him for a long time. How excited are you to return to Met Life where you had your magic moment? Yeah, home games are special. Um you know, because you got you know, people behind your back. Um, you got the crowd, you got the energy, and that’s what makes it fun. And, uh, you know, I’m definitely excited and it’s definitely important to to play really well at home. How how important is it for a quarterback to deal with adversity? I think it’s, you know, it’s it’s obviously very important, but the most important thing is, you know, how how can you respond to it and how, you know, you’re able to make adjustments, how you’re able to, um, take accountability, uh, for mistakes and then, you know, clean those things up and put your team in the best situation. So, um, I think that’s the hardest thing about this game is, you know, you never know how people are going to respond at times and, uh, you know, that’s what, you know, makes the the players the greatest of all time and, you know, being able to see, you know, the guys, um, just growing up, you know, who are the best being able to respond to adversity. So, it’s definitely important.

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

Subscribe to the Giants YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3dcF4jo
Subscribe to our Podcast Channels! ⬇️
🎙 Giants Podcast Network: https://nygnt.co/podcasts

#NYGiants #NFL #Giants

For more Giants action: https://www.giants.com/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newyorkgiants/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nygiants/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Giants
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newyorkgiants/
Follow us on TikTok: https://bit.ly/3fhkbFs
Follow us on Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3fo8VaA