BroBible
Jaxson Dart took a big hit during the first quarter of Monday Night Football. It sparked a fight between the New England Patriots and New York Giants as his teammates tried to protect their quarterback.
Although the collision was completely legal, it raises one big question.
The NFL seems to protect certain signal-callers over others. What if this play involved Patrick Mahomes?
There are a lot of things to like about Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart. He has played extremely well during the first seven starts of his rookie season even if it is not reflected in New York’s record.
One of Dart’s qualities is the dawg in him. However, his natural instinct to fight for every yard often puts him in danger. Lane Kiffin often begged him to protect his body at Ole Miss. He just can’t help himself.
Brian Daboll asked his rookie quarterback to make better decisions at the start of the year.
Jameis Winston is still trying to teach him in Week 13. Even Tommy DeVito got involved during the preseason.
“Slide,” DeVito told Dart. “Dude, you don’t need to be taking these unnecessary hits. There are certain times in the game, situation, yes, I get it, be a ball player. Times like that, just go down.”
It just hasn’t clicked quite yet. Dart has not figured out when to fold and when to hold but he knows it is something to work on.
“Moving forward, I have to be more available for this team,” Dart said. “This is obviously on the forefront of my mind moving forward […] I’m still getting used to this game. I’m getting used to this speed, this level. In college, you can watch my tape, I very rarely slid. This is a different beast. For me, I have to obviously be more responsible when I’m in the open field. But I felt I was getting better at it each and every week.”
Monday night was a step in the right direction. Well, kind of.
With this learning curve at top of mind, Jaxson Dart tried his best to go down after he got stuck in the pocket on an awkward scramble during the first quarter of Monday Night Football. Patriots linebacker Harold Landry was breathing down his neck and he finally did what he was asked to do.
