Jaxson Dart to gain more experience as Giants face Jets in joint practices

The player drafted to be the Giants’ future at their most important position turned in a promising debut in blue Saturday when they kicked off their exhibition schedule.

After playing much of the first half in the 34-25 victory at Buffalo, the on-the-job training at this level ramps up even more for Jaxson Dart this week.

The first-round rookie quarterback out of Ole Miss gets to face the Jets’ defense three times. It will start with a home-and-home set of joint practices Tuesday and Wednesday and will be followed by the annual Giants-Jets preseason game Saturday night at MetLife Stadium — not a bad developmental week for him.

The Jets will host the first joint practice at their training complex in Florham Park, New Jersey, and the Giants will host the second at their Meadowlands complex.

“Just kind of try to stack these [reps], and the more reps that I feel like I'm going to get, I'm going to get more and more comfortable,” Dart said after the Buffalo game.

Russell Wilson opened the game, and the 36-year-old quarterback is set to open the season as the starter.

But there’s a difficult schedule ahead for a team coming off a 3-14 debacle. If the losses are running way ahead of the wins, Dart could get his on-the-job training at some point in games that count.

So these preseason reps for the 25th overall pick are important. They will certainly count toward his development, even against defenses that are often filled with backups and are showing a vanilla look.

Even if Dart doesn’t play this season, the joint practices and exhibition games provide a valuable taste of what it’s like facing another team’s defense, going at him at an elevated intensity level than during a regular practice.

After Wilson went 6-for-7 for 28 yards against the Bills, Dart went 12-for-19 for 154 yards, including a 28-yard scoring pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey despite pressure and a hit by T.J. Sanders. Dart had a 106.0 passer rating.

“I thought Jaxson did a great job,” Wilson said. “I thought he made some great throws . . .  Jaxson and I were joking because, like I was saying to him, ‘I remember my first touchdown.’ Like, it’s such a great feeling.”

Dart also reeled off a 19-yard run on the way to a field goal.

“I thought it was really cool that I was able to go out there early,” Dart said. “I think for a few of my drives, a lot of their ones were out there. Kind of feeling the play speed of it all.

“Obviously, preseason is a little different with how much defenses are going to incorporate and put in and whatnot. But there is definitely a little bit faster [pace], but I've had a lot of great practice going against our guys each and every day.”

The Jets’ defensive guys should provide some challenges for Dart and the other Giants’ quarterbacks as well as an offensive line group that yielded no sacks in its first game action.

That defense allowed just 188 yards, produced four sacks and forced two turnovers in the first half that resulted in 10 points in the Jets’ 30-10 win Saturday night at Green Bay.

Giants coach Brian Daboll said he talked with Jets coach Aaron Glenn about these joint sessions “and what we’re looking to get out of it, which is good, competitive work against different teams that do different things and have different matchups. We’re able to look at their team; they’re able to look at us. We got a lot of players out there that are competing for a roster spot, so I think it serves multiple roles.”

Notes & quotes: Abdul Carter played only six snaps in his debut against Buffalo. Now the first-round linebacker will get his first crack at the Jets. His former Penn State teammate, left tackle Olu Fashanu, may have to try to block him. “I do look forward to seeing him, for sure,” Carter said . . . Fifth-round rookie Marcus Mbow will be getting his next chance to impress. He received praise for his work playing both tackle spots vs. the Bills. “I thought he did a good job, protected well, is athletic, knew all the plays, the assignments that he had,” Daboll said. “He’s had a good camp up to this point.”