Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart hoping to pick up where he left off in Monday Night Football return
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 9, 2025, in Chicago. Credit: AP/Nam Y. Huh
For Jaxson Dart, Monday isn’t a restart at the Patriots. It’s coming back from a pause after being sidelined in concussion protocol.
At least the Giants hope so. Dart was playing perhaps his best game before he was hurt in Week 10 against the Bears. In just under three quarters, the rookie quarterback accounted for a career-best 308 total yards, including a career-high 66 rushing yards.
“That game just sucked because we had control,” Dart said Friday. “Quite honestly, I felt like they could not stop me, they couldn’t stop us as a team. So that one hurt, for sure. You wish plays like that wouldn’t happen and you can finish the game with your team.”
Dart hopes to pick up at Gillette Stadium where he left off at Soldier Field. There’s just one obvious difference regarding who’s in his ear now.
Monday will be Dart’s first game without former coach Brian Daboll, who was very hands-on with his development. However, Dart already was close with Mike Kafka, and that relationship has only grown with Kafka in charge the last two weeks.
“It’s just more and more communication,” Dart said. “I think Kafka’s one of the best coordinators in the NFL. You can look at that from a player’s perspective as well as statistically and number-wise, I think he does a great job.
“So as an offense, as a team, we have a ton of confidence in him that he’s going to put us in the right situations to succeed.”
Kafka returned the praise to Dart for how much he grew through seven starts.
Sure, there’s still a matter of sliding more to avoid contact, something Dart was doing more against the Bears. But Kafka also saw his quarterback making smarter decisions and reading the field better.
“There are examples of his situational awareness, third down, where do you need to get down, when do you need to get a first down and when do you make a big play with his feet or with his arm on a scramble,” Kafka said. “So he’s continued to build off of that. He’s watching the veteran guys who stepped in while he was out.”
It helps that the offense reached a peak last week with Jameis Winston under center against the Lions. The Giants had a season-high 517 yards and succeeded on two trick plays that produced touchdowns. One could imagine what those plays and more could look like with Dart as a younger, faster athlete.
Kafka’s willingness to open up the playbook is a reminder that with the Giants already eliminated from playoff contention, these last five games are about taking more chances. It doesn’t mean being reckless with Dart. It means trusting him to do more to better help his growth.
Kafka was confident in Dart’s readiness more than concerned about rust from missing two games.
“When we were ramping him up, when he was going through the protocol, he was out here banking those reps,” Kafka said. “Even the back end, playing some scout team stuff as well. So you saw the reps, you saw him out there playing, and it looked clean, it looked crisp.”
Dart’s return will be his first Monday Night Football game. The brighter lights are just another reason he hopes to continue his progress instead of restarting it.
“Obviously, these prime-time games are ones that you have circled on your calendar,” Dart said. “So, excited to go out there, go compete at a high level and do everything in my power to rally these guys, to put our team in the best situation when the clock hits zero that we’re going to come out with a win.”
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.
