The New York Giants’ hopes and expectations of leveling up this season under first-year head coach John Harbaugh may now be short-lived after their rising second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart experienced a left knee injury in the team’s 28-6 road loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night.
The feeling of optimism after the team’s season-opening 28-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium a little under two weeks ago has been replaced with uncertainty. Dart was injured in the Giants’ first offensive possession of the game when a pair of Rams defensive lineman, Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart, converged on the the 23-year-old signal caller, causing him to contort with both feet off the SoFi Stadium turf, his body prone and legs twisted, before forcefully landing.
Dart underwent an MRI on Tuesday and as of AmNews press time, the team had not publicly announced the results of the test. However, various reports indicate palpable concern within the Giants organization that Dart could be out for the rest of the season. The Giants are 1-1 with 15 more games remaining.
“I wouldn’t really want to share too much until decisions get made and that takes more than one person. It takes everybody involved,” said Harbaugh on Tuesday as reported on Giants.com. “So, when we know what direction we’re going to have to go… we’ll announce that.”
Without Dart, the Giants’ offense fell under the control of QB No. 2 Jameis Winston and looked like it was early in the preseason. Lacking the requisite rhythm and timing to effectively move the ball behind a leaky offensive line and the unsettled 12-year veteran Winston, the Giants were food for the desperate and ravenous Rams (1-1), who entered this season as the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl which will be played at their home stadium on Valentine’s Day in February — though Los Angeles fell 27-7 in Australia to the 49ers on Sept. 10.
The Giants host the 0-2 Tennessee Titans this Sunday (1:00 p.m.) at MetLife.
The probability of an NFL team having a significant injury to one of its players during the course of the 17-game regular season schedule is 100 percent. Football is a collision sport. The human body is not built to withstand the constant physical trauma it undergoes game after game without sustaining some form of injury.
Some of the NFL’s best young quarterbacks suffered injuries this past Sunday that could shelve them for a few games or perhaps for the remainder of the season. The Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams is in the former category, expected to be back some time over the next few weeks when he recovers from the right hamstring injury he incurred in the Bears’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow again as the Commanders fell 37-20 to the Dallas Cowboys this past Sunday. He missed all but one game in the second half of last season after dislocating the elbow on Nov. 2 in Week 9.
This is the nature of the NFL and the Giants are acutely aware of this reality with their season now in a state of doubt with Dart sidelined.
