John Harbaugh isn’t about to hand out Peyton Manning or Tom Brady comparisons to Jaxson Dart. But the Ravens coach did find himself thinking back to a different era, when star quarterbacks actually logged real preseason work and played well into the third quarter.
“You don't see that ever anymore,” Harbaugh told reporters. “So, how much is six plays, 10 plays, how much is that really worth? That’s part of the whole balancing act.”
That balance is the whole issue for the Giants as they decide how much, if at all, to play Dart in their preseason finale. Dart already got 14 snaps in the Giants’ Aug. 15 preseason opener and then sat out against the Dolphins last weekend.
The concern is easy to understand. Nobody wants to see Dart get carted off or end up in the blue medical tent again, especially if Tyrone Tracy Jr. is on the field. Giants fans who’ve been around a while still remember Osi Umenyiora’s knee injury in a 2008 preseason game against the Jets, when the two-time Pro Bowler’s foot got stuck in the turf and he needed season-ending surgery before Week 1.
At the same time, injuries don’t just happen in games. Calvin Austin III tore his ACL.
Roy Robertson-Harris and Gunner Olszewski each suffered season-ending Achilles injuries during offseason workouts. Anthony Richardson missed two months after suffering an orbital bone fracture in pregame warmups.
“You get some injuries and you just try to make the argument that you go to the season with your best players healthy,” Harbaugh said. “That's the most important thing.”
That much is obvious.
Still, there’s a real case for treating the second preseason game as a longer runway for starters or expected contributors. The risk is plain enough with Dart and the Giants’ starting offensive line taking the field against the Jets. The worst-case scenario doesn’t need much imagination.
For perspective, Manning and Brady were the rare exceptions in their era. Neither ever missed a start because of a preseason injury.
Manning started every game in his first 13 seasons before neck problems ended his 2011 campaign. Brady’s only missed time as a full-time starter came with a torn ACL in Week 1 of 2008 and a four-game suspension for Deflategate in 2016.
Otherwise, he was on the field for 20 years.
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Schoen has made clear the decision-making will not be one-dimensional. Contract control matters, special teams value matters, position flexibility matters and health will matter too, which gives the Giants a broader lens as they sort through the bubble. With more than one possible trade path still open, the next move could say as much about roster building for the future as it does about the team they plan to put on the field right away. [Read more 🡒]