The Giants are heading into Sunday night with a very different feel around the building, and it starts with John Harbaugh setting the tone. He’s not asking for patience.
He’s not selling a long rebuild. He’s talking like a coach who expects results now, even with a brutal opener looming and a roster that won only seven games combined over the past two seasons.
“I get it from the standpoint of expectations, but of course we expect to win,” Harbaugh said. “How do you go out there and compete at this level if you don’t expect to win?
If you don’t expect to win, you certainly aren’t going to. I’ve said this before, we expect and we plan to and we’ll be playing to win every single one of our games this year.
That’s our expectation, that’s our plan, that’s what we’ll be striving for. We think we can [win], we believe we can [win], wholeheartedly.”
That mindset is showing up everywhere, including the way the Giants are building around Jaxson Dart. The team is trying to tailor the offense to his strengths, and Harbaugh pointed to what he once did with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore as part of the blueprint. The comparison stops short of any promise of a Year 2 explosion, but the idea is clear: shape the offense around the quarterback, not the other way around.
“I think the approach has been similar from the basic idea that we’re trying to build an offense for Jaxson Dart that is amenable to his skill set,” Harbaugh said. “We did the same thing with Lamar. But they’re different people, different quarterbacks - all those kinds of things are different.”
There’s also a strong sense that Harbaugh and Dart are an odd pairing on the surface that may work just fine underneath. Harbaugh is the veteran coach, all business and film-room detail.
Dart is the younger, flashier quarterback who carries himself like a celebrity in New York. But Harbaugh spent hours with him before taking the job and came away impressed by Dart’s “obsession” with the craft.
He also took calls from Brian Daboll, Eli Manning, and others who praised Dart’s football mind and work habits.
That buy-in from the quarterback showed up again this week in a text message to the offensive line. On Tuesday night, Dart sent a 10-word message to the five starters: Jon Runyan Jr., Andrew Thomas, John Michael Schmitz Jr., Francis Mauigoa and Jermaine Eluemunor. Runyan said, “It was kind of just random, out of nowhere,” but it was another sign of Dart making his intentions known before the Cowboys arrive.
The line in front of him has work to do, too. PFF ranked the Giants 23rd in its 2026 NFL offensive line rankings, noting that Andrew Thomas was arguably the team’s best player last year with a 90.3 PFF grade that tied a career high.
The concern, as always, is health - he missed significant time in both 2023 and 2024. The Giants also drafted Francis Mauigoa in the first round, and if he can settle in quickly, the group could look much stronger.
Even so, PFF sees the unit as one that may still be a season away from making a bigger impact.
On the outside, Harbaugh has made a clear bet that he has better answers than Darius Slayton. Slayton was moved out, and the Giants are turning to Darnell Mooney and third-round rookie Malachi Fields opposite Malik Nabers.
Both of them are carrying real pressure into the opener, and Fields in particular is being asked to handle a major role right away. Fields called it, “Pressure is a privilege.”
The Giants are also handling leadership a little differently this season. Instead of naming the same captains for the full year, Harbaugh will pick game-day captains on a week-to-week basis. At the same time, the team has a leadership council voted on by players that includes Andrew Thomas, Jaxson Dart, Jevon Holland, Jordan Stout, Brian Burns, Jameis Winston, Tremaine Edmunds and Chris Manhertz.
And while the football side is getting all the attention, Sunday night will also carry the weight of remembrance. Fans entering MetLife Stadium will see Ladder 343, the FDNY firetruck honoring the 343 members of the FDNY who died on September 11, 2001.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation will finish its Steel Across America tour outside the gates with an authentic steel beam from the World Trade Center on display. Players and coaches from both teams will wear commemorative NYPD, FDNY and PAPD pregame apparel, along with “Never Forget” t-shirts, and a limited number of hats will be sold with proceeds going to the first responder agencies.
Fans are being asked to be in their seats by 8pm for introductions, when the Giants will come out led by New York City first responders forming a gauntlet.
In Other News...
Former Giants RB At Center Of Sickening Off-Field Case
LeShon Johnson, a former Giants running back, is back in the news for all the wrong reasons after being sentenced to five years in prison and fined $30,000 for operating an illegal dogfighting ring. The case ended with convictions on six felony counts tied to possession, selling and trafficking animals used for fighting, a grim chapter that adds another dark footnote to the post-football life of a player once known for his time in the league.
The scope of the operation is what made the case stand out even more. After his arrest, Johnson surrendered 190 dogs, the largest number ever seized from one person in a federal dogfighting case, underscoring just how extensive the investigation became. It is a disturbing reminder that headlines involving former players can sometimes stretch far beyond the field and into crimes that carry both legal and moral weight. [Read more 🡒]
Odell Beckham Jr. Suddenly Carries More Weight In Giants Opener
The Giants head into Week 1 against the Cowboys with a receiver situation that looks a little thinner than it did a few days ago, and that has pushed Odell Beckham Jr. into a more meaningful role than some might have expected. Beckham made the final 53-man roster and is projected to be the fourth receiver, but with Darius Slayton released and Malik Nabers still working back from injury recovery, the depth chart has real consequences attached to it.
Beckham is expected to get meaningful snaps right away, which gives the Giants more than just another body at the position. His presence now matters both for what he can still do on the field and for the veteran steadiness he can bring to a group that may need it early. How much bigger that role becomes could depend on the health and availability of the receivers around him, and that makes Sunday feel like more than a routine opener. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Suddenly Need Theo Johnson For More Than They Planned
With Malik Nabers' availability still in question and Darius Slayton gone, the Giants are heading toward Week 1 against the Cowboys with less certainty at receiver than they probably wanted. That puts a different kind of spotlight on Theo Johnson, the tight end who led the team in receiving touchdowns last season and now looks poised to matter even more in the passing game.
Johnson was already part of the plan, but the shrinking margin for error around him changes the scale of the assignment. If the wideout group remains thin, the Giants may have to lean on him not just as a red-zone option, but as one of the more reliable ways to keep the offense moving while they sort out who is actually available and how much they can trust the rest of the passing game. [Read more 🡒]