The Giants got some scary news early on Monday Night Football, and now they’re waiting on answers. Jaxson Dart was ruled out against the Rams with a knee injury, and while general manager Joe Schoen sounded optimistic when he spoke with reporters, the team still hasn’t announced results from the X-rays that were ordered on the rookie quarterback.
Here’s everything we know so far about Dart’s injury, what happens next, and what it means for the Giants going forward.
The injury happened on the Giants’ opening drive. Dart was in the pocket on a third-down pass attempt when Rams defenders Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart converged on him in a high-low hit, with Stewart’s body forcing Dart’s left knee inward as he threw the ball incomplete. Dart immediately grabbed at his knee after the play.
He was able to walk off the field under his own power, though with a visible limp, and was taken into the sideline medical tent before heading back to the locker room for further evaluation. That’s typically a good early sign compared to a player who can’t put weight on the leg at all, but it doesn’t rule out something more serious.
Dart was playing well before the injury, following up a strong Week 1 showing against Dallas with more solid quarterback play before exiting early against Los Angeles.
Giants GM Joe Schoen addressed Dart’s injury during halftime, telling ESPN sideline reporter Laura Rutledge that Dart is “going to be OK.” It’s a reassuring update, but it’s also the kind of measured, hopeful line front offices give before hard medical information comes back, and Giants fans will want to see it confirmed by imaging before fully exhaling.
Schoen has been closely tied to Dart’s development since New York used a first-round pick on him, so it’s no surprise he’s staying positive publicly while the team waits on more concrete news.
There’s also a bit of team chatter making the rounds that Dart actually wanted to go back in for the second half and the Giants wouldn’t let him. Nothing on that has been confirmed yet, so treat it as a rumor for now, but if it’s true it’s a good sign both ways. It would suggest Dart himself didn’t feel like anything was seriously wrong, and that the coaching staff is simply choosing to be cautious with their rookie quarterback rather than risk making a moderate injury worse.
The Giants have not put out an official update on what the X-rays showed. Early in the process, some reports indicated Dart wasn’t immediately heading for imaging, which was seen as a mildly encouraging sign. That changed as the evaluation continued, and X-rays were ultimately ordered on the knee. As of this writing, the team has not announced the results.
Until New York provides an update, likely as soon as Tuesday, the safest approach is treating this as a wait-and-see situation. A clean X-ray doesn’t rule out soft tissue damage like an MCL sprain, so an MRI could still be in play depending on what the team decides.
Jameis Winston replaced Dart and took over quarterback duties for the rest of the game. It wasn’t a smooth transition. The veteran struggled to keep the offense competitive once he was thrust into action, and the Giants clearly missed the rhythm Dart had built through the first two weeks.
Still, Winston has been through plenty of ups and downs over a long NFL career, and that experience is exactly what New York will lean on if he has to make the start next week. A rough outing filling in cold is hardly a death sentence for a quarterback who has started well over 100 games in this league, and there’s every reason to think he can steady things with a full week of practice reps under his belt.
If Dart is forced to sit out any time, expect Winston to get the start, with the Giants leaning on their run game and defense to bridge the gap until their franchise quarterback is back on the field.
For more on how this Giants-Rams matchup set up before kickoff, check out Stadium Rant’s Giants vs. Rams Monday Night Football preview. For the full breakdown of how the injury unfolded in real time, ESPN’s game coverage has the details from the broadcast.
Stadium Rant will update this story as soon as the Giants release X-ray results or any further word on Jaxson Dart’s timeline.
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