FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart took a bone-crushing hit near the sideline in the first quarter of Monday night’s 33-15 loss to the New England Patriots. Even though he probably could have stepped out of bounds earlier and gained a few less yards, he said he wouldn’t change a thing.
It doesn’t matter that Dart sat out the previous two games because of a concussion and was checked for a concussion in four of the previous eight games.
“No, look, I understand the question, but this is football,” Dart said. “I’m going to get hit if I’m in the pocket or outside the pocket. I feel like I played this way my whole entire life. It shouldn’t be any shocker to anybody if you followed along with my career.
“We’re not playing soccer out here. You’re going to get hit. Things happen. It’s just part of the game.”
Dart said he was scrambling out of the pocket on the second-and-13 play and was trying to get the first down before Christian Elliss sent him flying through the air. Dart landed on the Giants’ sideline.
The hit was deemed legal. Dart was still inbounds at the time of the hit. “Guy made a good hit,” he said.
Interim coach Mike Kafka didn’t have any problem with the play from his quarterback. Even if it led to a big hit.
“Obviously, don’t want him to take any hits that are unnecessary, but he was working his way out of bounds,” Kafka said.
Tight end Theo Johnson immediately came in to defend his quarterback. He picked up a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness on the play.
Dart’s offensive line also came to protect him.
“We’re not here to just get rolled over,” right guard Greg Van Roten said. “It’s your quarterback. Especially if you think it’s late, cheap or dirty, you let them know that’s not acceptable. If they do s— like that, we will respond accordingly.”
Dart said he didn’t play any differently coming back from the concussion. He said playing safer wasn’t running through his mind. The rookie first-round pick was just playing his game.
He was 17-of-24 passing for 139 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He rushed four times for 20 yards and wasn’t thrilled with the performance.
“Not good enough because we lost,” Dart said.
It was the Giants’ seventh straight loss. It was their 13th straight road defeat dating to last season.
Dart still insists he was his usual aggressive self Monday night. The Giants (2-11) even kept him in the game down three scores with just over two minutes left.
“Like I said, I played like this my whole life,” Dart said. “Turn on my high school tape, turn on my college tape, it’s not a shocker to anybody. It’s how I’ve played. I felt like if you just watch the game, like, I did slide. I did avoid a lot of hits, so you’re going to get hit. It’s football.”
The Giants did call the game Monday night a bit differently. In the game in which Dart was hurt last month, they used him on six designed runs. They didn’t call any designed runs Monday.
Still, some of his teammates would rather him avoid the type of hit he took in the first quarter.
“I told him earlier [Monday], be smart, protect ourselves. Obviously, he’s not going to listen because he’s just so competitive, loves the contact,” veteran offensive lineman Jon Runyan said. “That’s just how he is. We’re just going to have to keep talking to him. Maybe he’ll listen to us one of these days.”
Fortunately for Dart and the Giants, the quarterback said he felt good coming out of Monday night’s game. He bounced back from the massive hit from Elliss and immediately jogged back to the huddle.
The play on which he suffered a concussion in Chicago and this hit in New England aren’t going to alter his thinking.
“I got knocked out of the game against Chicago on a fluke play. You watch the hit, I lose control of the ball and I don’t brace myself because I’m trying to re-catch the ball,” Dart said. “It’s not because of the hit. It’s because I lost the ball. So just like any other league, you take new steps, there’s bigger, faster players. My body feels good. I’m going to play aggressive. I feel like if I just turn into a complete pocket passer, that’s just not how I want to play the game. I feel like there’s an advantage to me using my legs. So, yeah.”
