New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is back in the team’s huddle after a two-week absence due to his being in the league’s concussion protocol.
And with the rookie’s return comes the challenge of allowing Dart to utilize his mobility on designed runs while also knowing when to give himself up as a runner.
So far, that hasn’t been easy for the Giants. Going back to the preseason, Dart has been in the blue medical tent three times for evaluation of a head injury. The rookie has run 37 designed run plays out of his 57 rushing attempts.
But for Dart, it comes down to being more judicious in determining when to go for the gold and when to live to see another day.
“I think that’s a big part of playing quarterback in this league, especially starting quarterbacks,” said offensive coordinator Tim Kelly. “Especially guys that have his mobility, his mindset, his really understanding the value of being available.
Dart said that being smart out there has been a consistent point of emphasis with him, but in his mind, he has heeded the warnings; his concussion suffered in the loss against the Bears was just one of those things.
“When I look back at the game, there’s not a hit where I’m like, ‘Dang, I shouldn’t have taken that hit,’ to be honest. I felt like I was making smart decisions. I didn’t really take any unnecessary hits,” he said.
“That was just a situation where you kind of lose control of your body when you fumble it, and you’re not really bracing for the ground. But obviously, moving forward, now I’ve got to be more available for this team, so that’s obviously on the forefront of my mind going forward.”
As for whether the Giants intend to be more picky themselves about when they send Dart on a designed run, that might be tricky given that the offense is predicated on the RPO concept, which leaves the option to run up to the quarterback based on what he sees from the defense.
The concept, in fact, has been a successful one with Dart running the show. And the coaches, who don’t plan to change things so they remove Dart’s mobility from their arsenal, just hope the rookie continues to make smart decisions about when to run and when to call it a play.
“You’re never going to take that mindset away from him. That’s the main reason as to why he is who he is, but being able to understand when you need to put the cape on and when it’s okay to go ahead and slide,” Kelly said.
“I think that’s part of the process for these younger quarterbacks coming into the league, is just understanding, you always have that mindset of, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to go get that last yard.’ Well, a yard with 12 minutes to go in the first quarter is a little bit different than a yard to go with 10 seconds to go in the game.
“So being able to have some situational awareness there and understand when we need him to put the cape on and when he needs to protect himself.”
