EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Jaxson Dart made a lot of people feel pretty good after a dazzling debut as the New York Giants' starting quarterback.
The frustrated fans. His excited teammates. And his embattled coach.
“There’s nothing about him that’s typical of a rookie," tight end Theo Johnson said after the Giants beat the previously undefeated Los Angeles Chargers 21-18 on Sunday. “His poise, the way he can rally the troops. Everyone just rallied behind him.
"He’s got great energy and everyone’s got a ton of respect for him.”
Especially after this performance by Dart, who brushed off getting banged up and provided a sudden boost to a franchise that appeared ready to tailspin into another lost season.
Dart ran for a 15-yard touchdown to cap an impressive 90-yard drive on the opening possession of his first game as the Giants' starting quarterback, later threw a TD pass and got a huge hug from coach Brian Daboll to celebrate the victory.
"Me and Dabs just have a special relationship," Dart said of Daboll, who made it clear it was his decision to bench Russell Wilson in favor of the rookie this week after the Giants' 0-3 start.
“He's the guy that believed in me from Day 1,” he added. “I think it does say a lot when he made the decision and having the confidence in me and even just giving me the ball in those situations on third down to make a play. I know that when you have a coach that has your back, I'm going to go out there and do everything I can for him to win.”
Dart was the 25th overall pick out of Ole Miss in April, even after the Giants signed Wilson in free agency in March. The thought was Wilson could help guide the youngster, who would sit back and learn while the veteran ran the offense and, Daboll and the Giants hoped, led the team to some victories.
But New York struggled with consistency during an 0-3 start that had many fans calling for Daboll's job. While Wilson threw for 450 yards and three touchdowns in the Week 2 loss at Dallas, he had no TD passes in the other two games. And his struggles in the red zone in the loss last week to Kansas City appeared to seal his fate — and make up Daboll's mind.
The Giants turned to Dart. And now, it's on him to have them never turn back.
“I want to give a big shoutout to Russ,” Dart said. “I know that this week probably wasn't the easiest thing, but he handled it like a professional and was a mentor for me. So, obviously just have a ton of respect for him.”
Dart finished 13 of 20 for 111 yards, including a 3-yard TD pass to Johnson, and ran 10 times for 54 yards. He was sacked five times, holding the ball a bit too long on some plays — not unlike many rookie quarterbacks.
He also brushed off a hamstring injury after halftime and a big hit from the Chargers that sent him to the medical tent for two plays to be evaluated for a head injury.
“I know (No.) 6 is probably going to be sore,” Daboll said. “I mean, he gutted it out. Son’s a tough son of a you know what. He’s tough, but I knew that.”
After the Chargers punted on their first series of the game, Dart and the Giants took the field at their 10 — and the quarterback received a standing ovation from the MetLife Stadium crowd as he jogged from the sideline.
His first snap was a handoff to Cam Skattebo and his first pass one play later to Malik Nabers fell incomplete, but Tarheeb Still was called for pass interference. Two plays later, Dart's first NFL completion went for 7 yards to Nabers.
After Skattebo ran for 20 yards on the next two plays, Dart took off on runs of 9 and 4 yards to put the ball at the Chargers 28. Dart connected with a sliding Nabers — who was later carted from the field with an apparent right leg injury — for a 13-yard completion to make it first-and-10 at the 15.
Dart then took the snap, wriggled up the middle and scooted into the end zone nearly untouched for a touchdown to put New York up 7-0 with 9:20 left in the opening quarter.
Dart led the Giants on two more scoring drives in the first half, field goals of 22 and 31 yards by Jude McAtamney. The rookie was 7 of 11 for 59 yards through two quarters and ran six times for 44 yards and the score.
“I've got a lot of confidence in our rookie quarterback,” Daboll said. “But he’s a rookie quarterback, so there’s going to be mistakes that’ll be made. We know that. There’ll be more next week, there was some this week. It’s not going to be perfect.”
But it was good enough this week to perhaps already save the Giants' season.
“The confidence he carries himself with," right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said, "and the swagger he has is contagious.”
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