New York Giants offensive coordinator Tim Kelly this week pointed out that quarterback Jaxson Dart did more than risk hurting himself when he took the much-discussed Week 13 sideline hit from Christian Elliss of the New England Patriots. Dart hurt his team, which, in the moment, was the most important detail.

Instead of a manageable third-and-2 had Dart stepped out of bounds, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Theo Johnson for defending the quarterback, put the Giants in third-and-17.

“I talked to him about it. He’s got to get out of bounds. He’s got to get everything he can and make sure he’s clearly out of bounds so he’s not exposing himself,” Kelly said. “That was a clean hit. Those guys were playing hard. We were playing hard. Our guys went to protect him, which you love to see.

“Obviously, it hurt the team because of the penalty, but if we can do a better job of being able to go ahead and get out of bounds there, we’re not exposing ourselves to that penalty because we’re not going to get that reaction from the defense. Again, it comes down to, we talked about the awareness a little bit ago of having that ability to go and get everything you can and then make sure that you’re protecting yourself and protecting your team and getting out of bounds.”

Kelly said he thinks the rookie quarterback, who prides himself on his aggression, is getting the message.

“That’s part of his game that makes him unique and makes him the type of player that he is. And you see it throughout the league with other young quarterbacks that are coming through with a similar play style is learning when to say when. When is the journey over?,” Kelly said. “And that’s [the sideline hit] clear as day when the journey was over. The guy’s got you dead to rights. You’re on the sideline already. Just duck out of bounds six inches earlier, and we’re not having this conversation right now. We don’t get flagged. It’s a third-and-2 instead of a third-and-17. It changes a lot of things.

“We still want him to protect himself, obviously, but we never want him to lose an aggressive nature. And again, it’s a fine line. So, I do, with the conversations I’ve had with him, I do think that that message is becoming clearer for him.”

With the Giants at 2-11, there are some who would prefer to see the Giants keep the prized rookie on the sideline the rest of the season. Kelly disagrees.

“Game reps are invaluable,” Kelly said. “So being able to go and see different defenses, different schemes, going out and getting into different situations, third down, first down, four-minute, two-minute, everything that comes along with it, and continuing to see good decision-making, protecting the football, and doing everything you can to lead us down and to score points and win games. No matter what the record is, those opportunities and those games and that experience that he’s going to be able to gain is going to be invaluable.”

He is protecting the football, if not himself

Dart has just thrown three interceptions in 228 pass attempts, a 1.3% interception rate. He has fumbled three times. Dart said this week that when he self-scouted during the bye week he was pleased with his ability to protect the ball.

“I felt like my decision making has been pretty good, not putting the ball in harms away. Situationally, I felt like I didn’t really try to force things too much. I kind of just tried to let the game come to me and so I was happy with that,” Dart said.

“He’s done a really good job protecting the football, hasn’t really exposed the football, and has made good decisions as far as when to extend plays, being able to go and scramble for a first down, or does he have to scramble and keep his eyes down the field and showing all those different play-making abilities that make him so unique,” Kelly said. “The biggest thing for me, especially with a young quarterback, is really his ability to still be aggressive without being reckless, and I think he’s done a really good job of toeing that line.”

If he can continue doing that on Sunday against the Washington Commanders the Giants will have a chance to end their seven-game losing streak.