New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart is still in the concussion protocol after missing Sunday’s 27-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers, head coach Mike Kafka revealed on Monday morning.
Dart suffered the injury during Big Blue’s Week 10 loss to the Chicago Bears, which was the final game of Brian Daboll’s three-plus-year run as head coach, leaving Kafka not only to contend with an offense sans Dart, wide receiver Malik Nabers, and Cam Skattebo, but with a building that is clearly leaking information to the press to exacerbate an already rotten season.
Someone within the Giants’ organization went to ESPN’s Adam Schefter to blame Dart for the concussion he suffered in Chicago.
“People both inside and outside the Giants organization spoke with Dart and urged the rookie quarterback to be more thoughtful and careful with when and how he runs,” Schefter wrote. “Dart has been told repeatedly, especially this past week, that missing games hurts his team more than not gaining extra yards and that he can’t help his team if he’s not in the game.”
Schefter added that quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney “has shown Dart videos of multiple quarterbacks and pointed out the difference between being aggressive and active in self-preservation.”
It is a staggering lack of accountability coming from a team that has called designed runs for Dart when losses have already been well out of hand.
“That’s the fine line,” Kafka, the offensive coordinator before stepping in for the fired Daboll, said on Monday. “Jaxson… he’s an aggressive player. That’s what we love about him. But you want to show him some examples that he can learn from. I think he’s going through that now. I think he’ll continue to grow from those things. At the end of the day, he’s a competitor and that’s why we love this guy… You don’t want to put a player like that in a box. You want to show him examples that he can improve on, and he will take that to the bank.”
Kafka is not looking to completely overhaul how his rookie quarterback approaches using his legs, though. Whether he’ll have an opportunity to tweak those things for Sunday’s Week 12 clash against the Detroit Lions remains unknown.
“The last thing I want is him out there playing timid or afraid of getting injured,” Kafka continued. “You want him to play as hard as he possibly can. There’s going to be opportunities for him to go ahead and get down, and I trust that he’s going to make the smart choice. There’s going to be opportunities he’s gotta go get a first own and I trust he’s going to make the right choice…
“You don’t want ot put him in a box and put a bunch of parameters on him. You want him to go play free, play confidently, and play the game he’s been playing his entire life… He’s a smart player. He understands it. He gets it. When he gets those opportunities, we’re going to ask him to cut it loose and pay ball, and go ball out there for us.”
