EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 28: Jaxson Dart #6 of the New York Giants celebrates a rushing touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first quarter in the game at MetLife Stadium on September 28, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
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There are no fairy tales in the NFL. So even Sunday’s 21-18 win by the New York Giants over the Los Angeles Chargers, coming in Jaxson Dart’s first pro start, carried with it plenty of warning signs and concerns for the team both short and long-term.
Even so: both the process and results within Dart’s debut were as promising as anyone around the team could have hoped, starting with the very first drive of the game, a 10-play, 89-yard journey completed by Dart’s 15-yard run into the end zone. The Giants entered Sunday winless, but against the Chargers, they never trailed.
“Yeah, I mean, that’s his job as a quarterback, make good decisions,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll told reporters following the game. “Convert, make the right choice. It wasn’t perfect, didn’t expect it to be in this first game. But a tough opponent, 3-0 team with pretty good defense. Thought he made good decisions, that we ran the ball well, thought we controlled the game for the most part. Had some turnovers on defense, but I think the young man played well within himself. Made a huge play when he needed to, to (tight end) Theo (Johnson), in that third-down play. Happy we got him.”
Dart’s numbers on the afternoon weren’t otherworldly: 13-for-20 passing, 111 yards and one touchdown. He added another 54, including his 15-yard keynote touchdown scramble, on the ground.
But most notably, he did not fumble. He did not throw an interception. Against a previously-unbeaten team whose defense had been particularly tough against the pass, he did what the Giants needed him to do to win a game.
“Obviously, this experience was a special one, it being my first one,” Dart said following the game. “I’m just grateful to have the guys around me that I had. I obviously want to give a big shout out to (quarterback Russell Wilson) Russ. I know that this week probably wasn’t the easiest thing, but he handled it like a professional and just was a mentor for me. I just have a ton of respect for him. It goes for (quarterback) Jameis (Winston) as well, just getting me prepared for this week. Really just proud of the guys, being able to battle through some adversity throughout the game. It’s not always going to be the cleanest, but I was just happy that we were able to come out with the win.”
The manner of adversity Dart faced itself is the warning sign flashing brightest as he heads into the last 13 games of the season as a starter. Andrew Thomas is back on the offensive line, and even still, Dart was sacked 5 times, went through the concussion protocol, and battled a tweaked hamstring. That’s a lot of abuse right out of the gate. And it was compounded by Dart’s competitiveness leading him to lean into contact, rather than sliding or getting out of bounds on scrambles.
“I trust him. I mean, there’s different shots to take. We watch them every week. There’s going to be shots when you run through, that play that they jumped off sides, it was a fourth-down or whatever it was, the crowd was going crazy. He hit it for two yards. You know, there’s different shots. You don’t want to take his, you want to try to minimize them. But part of what I love about him is what he did in college. He’s tough. He’s a competitor. So, I’m glad he’s our young quarterback. Again, and there’s going to be a lot of growing pains, I’m just telling you. But his job is to go out there and do what we need to do to win.”
Unfortunately, it appears those growing pains won’t come alongside Malik Nabers. After collecting a pair of early receptions from Dart, Nabers came down hard on his knee and had to be carted off the field. The reports of his ACL being torn would likely mean an end to his 2025 season, and would keep the team’s last two first-round picks on offense from learning to play together this year.
“Obviously, prayers to him,” Dart said. “I don’t think we know exactly what happened, so he’s going to be one of my first phone calls to check on him. Malik is – I’ve said it – Malik’s one-of-one, so when you have a guy like that on the field, you have all the confidence in the world that he can just be a dominant game-changer. But I thought from that moment, obviously it’s really hard seeing one of your best friends go down, but we were able to rally. I thought guys made some good plays, but obviously, just prayers to him.”
Still, Dart will continue to work on his chemistry with other young Giants on offense. Whether it is Theo Johnson, who caught a shovel pass from Dart for his first passing touchdown as a pro, or running back Cam Skattebo, who rushed for 79 yards while catching two passes from Dart, New York has plenty of important pieces to arrange around their young signal-caller.
And when it goes wrong — and in football, even best-case scenarios, things go wrong — the results won’t be a desultory veteran who doesn’t figure into the team’s future plans bringing only despair to the fan base. This will be the team’s future coming into fuller view. Which is why Daboll, despite his obvious joy at the win, preached patience with Dart.
“As a quarterback, whether it’s running a bunch, make a big third-down play — again, there’s a lot of things to improve on, though, from him,” Daboll said of Dart, who wears number 6.
“…I’m happy for our players. I’m happy for our coaches. They put a lot of time and effort and energy into this. Jaxson has, all quarterbacks do, but for a young player to come out here in his first game against a 3-0 team, with Herbert as quarterback, and the defense, the way they were playing. I think it says a lot about our guys. I think it says a lot about 6.”