Giants' Jaxson Dart shines in his preseason debut, a win over the Bills

ORCHARD PARK — Jaxson Dart said on Thursday that no lights would be too bright for him in his preseason debut.

The rookie quarterback took center stage and didn’t disappoint on Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium, playing nearly the entire first half of the Giants’ 34-25 preseason win over the Bills.

Dart showed he could handle pressure with a 28-yard touchdown pass despite taking a hit from Bills rookie defensive tackle T.J. Sanders after the throw.

Dart lay on the turf while the ball found Lil’Jordan Humphrey in stride in the end zone. The quarterback popped up quickly, ran and slapped hands with right guard Jake Kubas, then yelled while heading down the field to greet his receiver.

“I just kind of blacked out and I was just super-pumped.” Dart said. “Just trying to get down there and celebrate with the guys.”

It was the highlight of Dart’s day and capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive. The 25th overall pick completed 12 of 19 passes for 154 yards without an interception and had a team-high 24 rushing yards.

Dart completed his first three passes, and if not for a few third-down drops, his completion percentage would’ve been higher.

Dart, however, was critical of himself for not converting those third downs. Coach Brian Daboll kept things in perspective but complimented his quarterback’s overall play.

“Just about what I thought he would do,” Daboll said. “Efficient, effective, aggressive, confident in the pocket. Stuff we can work on, but he’s doing good.”

Dart’s poise showed up on the scoring drive. On third-and-9, he threw a short pass to Dante Miller that Miller turned into an 18-yard gain. On the next play, Dart threw another short pass to Montrell Washington that turned into a 29-yard completion.

Before the touchdown, Dart nearly threw an interception when his pass was deflected and bounced just in front of a diving defender. It didn’t faze him, however, as he found Humphrey in single coverage and threw it downfield, trusting Humphrey to finish the play.

“Me and him have been connecting a lot during camp and what not, and he’s been a great contested catcher on go balls,” Dart said. “I like my matchup one-on-one and he was able to win over the top and make a great play.”

Dart also thought it was funny that Sanders was the one who hit him. Sanders, taken in the second round out of South Carolina, had hit Dart before when the two faced off in college. Daboll wasn’t surprised by how smoothly Dart handled pocket pressure from another defense.

“We saw that on tape at Ole Miss. He did that for a long time there,” Daboll said. “He’s tough, got good moxie, got toughness, got leadership.”

During his third series, Dart sidestepped a few defenders before taking off for a 19-yard run. It helped set up another scoring drive as Graham Gano kicked a 50-yard field goal.

For good measure, Dart led a two-minute drill just before halftime, going 3-for-4 on the seven-play drive to set up Gano’s 51-yard field goal.

In a mild surprise, Russell Wilson started at quarterback. In his Giants debut, he led the first-team offense for one series and completed his first six passes.

Wilson, who finished 6-for-7 for 28 yards, targeted only one wide receiver on the series, throwing mostly short passes that didn’t travel far past the line of scrimmage. But he led a scoring drive of his own that Gano finished with a 53-yard field goal.

“I definitely wanted to play. Any time you get to be in the white lines, it’s a good thing, it’s a blessing,” Wilson said. “I’m just grateful to wear the blue and what a great day it was.”

Wilson didn’t have top receivers Malik Nabers (shoulder) and Darius Slayton (undisclosed) available to throw to, as both did not play.

The first-team defense played two series. Dexter Lawrence was the only returning starter who didn’t play as he didn’t make the trip.

With the Giants up 27-25 in the fourth quarter, the defense forced a late takeaway as Trace Ford recovered a fumbled snap. It led to Tommy DeVito finding Jonathan Ward for a touchdown with 2:15 left.

All four quarterbacks saw action, with Jameis Winston playing the third quarter and DeVito the fourth. Winston threw a touchdown pass to Gunner Olszewski.

But the day belonged to Dart’s first NFL audition. He and Daboll kept the performance in perspective, but they were encouraged by their first outing together as Dart looked comfortable and poised.

“I expect myself to play good whenever I’m on the field,” Dart said. “I don’t expect myself to not play good. I was just trying to operate the offense and get the ball out of my hands quickly to get guys the ball in space for them to make plays. And I thought they did a great job.”

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.