New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart made his NFL debut on Saturday against the Buffalo Bills, and in the eyes of anyone not named Josina Anderson, he looked poised and comfortable.
Dart completed 12 of his 19 pass attempts for 154 yards and one touchdown, and two of those incompletions were drops.
Despite the impressive performance, Dart classified his debut as “mid,” which the quarterback expressed to head coach Brian Daboll after being removed from the game.
“I said, ‘I’m proud of you tonight. You did some good things. We got to make some more plays, too, on the perimeter,” Dabol told reporters. “You know, we got two or three chances to make those plays and whatever ‘mid,’ what’s mid now mean? ‘That was mid.’ That was his response. He’s pretty hard on himself. I’ll say that. You got to ask him about what mid means. 6-7.”
Dabes with jokes the kids understand.
But Dart was modest in his self-assessment, believing he and the offense left points on the board.
“I just felt like the only reason that we stopped ourselves from scoring touchdowns were just some of those third downs and not converting. And I feel like personally, I’m really hard on myself. So, in those moments, like I want to capitalize on that,” he said. “Those possessions in those crunch-time situations really determine the game. So, like I said, I feel like I can do a lot more, but I was happy with how the guys played around me.”
Dart may be underselling himself a bit, but that’s the attitude the Giants want to see in their future starter. Still, Daboll offered greater praise for Dart than the rookie gave himself.
“Efficient, effective, aggressive, confident in the pocket,” the coach said. “He’s a confident young player. He’s improved since he’s been here. Still have a long way to go, but I enjoy working with him. I like his demeanor on the sideline. He sees the game well.”
Saturday was a great first step for Dart and something he can build on over the final two weeks of the preseason.
