Young quarterbacks are taught to do one of three things to safeguard their health in the NFL. First, when passing, throw the ball away when being chased to avoid a sack or an unnecessary hit. When leaving the pocket, either get out of bounds or give yourself up via a baseball “slide” to avoid a hit.
On Thursday night, during the New York Giants’ 42-10 rout of the New England Patriots, rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart decided to ignore all of those things and took on two Patriots’ defenders after a 23-yard scramble instead of sliding.
Dart fumbled the ball (the Giants recovered) and got the wind knocked out of him.
Dart had to be evaluated for a concussion in the blue medical tent. He passed all of the tests but did not return to the game. He was lucky that he avoided serious injury. It’s not what he is coached to do, especially in a preseason game.
“Got the wind knocked out of him. He’s good,” head coach Brian Daboll said after the game. “Yeah, we’d like him to slide on that.”
Dart felt he could split the defenders and make more yardage. He is learning that this is the NFL and those windows close just a bit more quickly than they do in college.
Although Daboll wasn’t pleased with Dart’s decision, he trusts his quarterbacks know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em. Dart’s aggressiveness is what endears him to Daboll the most.
“I wouldn’t coach it out of him. Just certain times that you got make the right decision. I would say in this particular game is probably a good time to slide, a third preseason game. Every situation is different. I’ve had different quarterbacks that could run and are pretty productive running the football,” he said.
“There is a time and a place. You know, you’d like to take as few hits as you can, but I like Jaxson’s competitiveness, his toughness. You got to make the right decision. Those are split-second decisions, so I trust him. I trust the guys that I’ve been around, our guys. I just trust them to do the right thing. I’ll never take his competitiveness away.”
Tommy DeVito, the Giants’ fourth quarterback and Dart’s de facto tour guide since joining the Giants this spring, was asked what he told the rookie after he was benched following the play.
“It’s a work in progress,” DeVito said. “Trying to help him out a little bit. Seems like the type that’s going to learn from personal experience, so hopefully he will take that insight from today and get better from there. But I knew he was okay…I treat him like my little brother. Even though we’re not that far in age. It’s not like that. But just trying to help him go over the bumps and talk to him.”
DeVito was frank when prodded on the exact words he used with Dart.
“Slide,” DeVito said laughingly. “Dude, you don’t need to be taking these unnecessary hits. There are certain times in the game, situation, yes, I get it, be a ball player. Times like that, just go down.”
We’ll see next time if Dart heeds the advice. He indicated via social media that he would be more cautious.
When that next opportunity to prove he’s learned from his mistake remains to be seen. Dart will serve as QB3 when the regular season opens in September.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants’ Jaxson Dart says he’ll slide more after concussion scare
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
