You could argue too much has been made about Jaxson Dart’s struggles with taking too many hits, but the fact of the matter remains: until he stops getting gobsmacked by defenders, it’s going to remain a talking point. League safety over everything.
I'm not sure if you have heard, but the New York Giants' second-year quarterback went to the blue medical tent five times last year for a concussion check. It has led to your classic "we can't agree on anything" online arguments over how sustainable his playing style really is.
Fanning the flames of the “he takes too many hits” conversation was a preseason-opening wallop from Vikings safety Jay Ward. Ward smacked Dart into another universe, running straight through his chest on a legal hit. The shot was deemed big enough to warrant a blue medical tent visit for -- I think you know where I'm going with this -- another concussion check.
I won't lie to you, as he laid there on the ground for what felt like 10 hours, bad thoughts started working their way around my brain. The season was practically over before it ever began. But then he got up, made his way to the tent, and came back out two plays later to throw a 15-yard touchdown to Malachi Fields.
Jaxson Dart’s trips to the medical tent aren’t going away anytime soon
For anyone hoping the noise around Dart taking too many big hits and getting evaluated for concussions would stop anytime soon, might I interest you in a time machine? NFL insider Ian Rapoport on Monday all but confirmed that this is how it's going to be with Dart and the G-Men moving forward.
Appearing on Good Morning Football on Monday morning, RapSheet hit Dart, the Giants, and the fans with a painful new reality:
"The league is going to err on the side of caution. This is going to be, unfortunately, a reality for Jaxson Dart. But it's also not unfortunate, because based on these rules, they're also protecting him from himself and trying to keep him out of harm's way. So, unfortunately, [it] is just going to be the way now for Jaxson Dart."
While Dart gets a ton of heat for putting himself in harm's way and not sliding, this was clearly not one of those cases. This was a blown protection by Tracy and nothing else.
Expecting Dart to never get touched when a blitzer is coming in completely unblocked seems fairly unrealistic, so let’s also acknowledge the circumstances here. It was a failure in the blocking scheme, though still definitely not what anyone wanted to see in preseason game one.
Dart echoed that frustration after the game. While he made sure to note that he respects the league's rules and intention to keep players healthy, he admitted he is still "puzzled by just feeling like every time that I get hit, I just find my way in there."
Head coach John Harbaugh agreed with the sentiment regarding the play itself, emphasizing that the blame fell on the breakdown rather than his QB's bad habits. When speaking about the hit on Sunday, Harbaugh was blunt: “There’s no way he should have been hit there."
Ultimately, the reality of the situation is a two-way street. The league will have a hyper-sensitive eye on Dart due to his history, meaning the medical tent will remain a constant shadow over his season if he keeps taking big hits.
But if the Giants want to keep their franchise QB on the field instead of under the blue canopy, the solution isn't just telling Dart to change how he plays -- they have to make sure the blocking up front isn’t getting him killed, either.
Add us as a preferred source on Google