Jaxson Dart sat quietly in front of his locker, frustration written all over his face. He wasn’t yelling or throwing things, but his body language told the story-palms up, eyes wide, searching for answers that just weren’t coming. The Giants’ rookie quarterback had just taken another hit, figuratively and literally, in what’s become a brutal initiation into the NFL.
Kneeling beside him was Jameis Winston, the veteran backup, listening intently as Dart vented. No shouting, just a quiet conversation between a young quarterback trying to find his footing and a seasoned pro who’s been through the highs and lows of this league. Dart ran a hand through his blonde hair, stared at the floor, then looked up into his locker as Winston offered advice-words of perspective from someone who knows how cruel this league can be.
The Giants had just dropped their ninth straight game, a 16-13 loss to the Vikings that brought their record to 2-13. It tied the franchise’s worst losing streak-a mark they set just last season en route to a 3-14 finish.
For Dart, it was his seventh straight loss as a starter, a far cry from that electric Thursday night win over the Eagles back in October. That game feels like a lifetime ago.
After Winston left for the showers, Russell Wilson-once the starter, now the third-string mentor-took a seat next to Dart. He didn’t come with answers, but he did bring encouragement.
“Just keep your head up and keep going,” Wilson said, summing up the message he delivered to the rookie.
That’s really all Dart can do right now. Two games remain in a season that’s spiraled into misery, including a matchup next week in Las Vegas against the Raiders-another two-win team stuck in the same basement as the Giants.
Dart’s numbers on Sunday were rough. He completed just 7 of 13 passes for 33 yards, threw an interception off a deflection, and added only seven yards on the ground.
His passer rating? A tough 27.4.
The Vikings’ defense, led by Brian Flores, swarmed him all day-five sacks, six more quarterback hits, and relentless pressure that left the Giants with just 141 total yards of offense. That’s their third-lowest single-game output since 1999.
This wasn’t just a bad game. It was the worst of Dart’s young career.
But Wilson, now in his 14th NFL season, wasn’t about to let Dart get lost in the moment.
“He’s such a tremendous football player,” Wilson said. “There are going to be highs and lows.
He’s going to have more highs than lows. As a rookie, expectations are always high.
You want everything to go perfectly, but it’s about perspective. You’ve got to keep your belief every day.”
Dart is leaning on that perspective. Between Winston and Wilson, he’s got 25 years of NFL experience in his ear-guys who’ve seen the game from every angle. And in a season that’s tested him more than he ever imagined, their words matter.
“They’ve been through a lot,” Dart said. “A lot of this is new for me. You definitely lean on those guys.”
Wilson, who won a Super Bowl in just his second season, knows what it’s like to walk into the league and find success early. But he also remembers leaning on veterans during his rookie year in Seattle-guys like Leon Washington, who showed him how to navigate the grind.
“I always watched how he went about his business,” Wilson said. “He was inspirational to me.”
Dart’s journey is clearly going to be a different one. After starting 2-1 and pulling off that upset of the Eagles, the season fell apart. Two games later, following a loss in Philly and a collapse in Denver, Dart was still talking like a leader-refusing to accept losing.
“We’ve got to start figuring out ways to win, because I hate it,” he said back then. “I’m not used to it. I’m not just going to accept it.”
But the losing didn’t stop. Dart suffered a concussion in Chicago that kept him out two weeks.
Since returning, he’s looked more like a rookie still trying to find his rhythm than the dual-threat playmaker who started the season hot. In his first seven starts, he had 17 total touchdowns and just three interceptions.
In the three games since coming back? Three passing touchdowns, no rushing scores, and two picks.
The coaching change hasn’t helped. These last three games have been played without Brian Daboll, the fired head coach who helped craft Dart’s early-season success. Whoever takes over next-assuming GM Joe Schoen is even the one making that hire-will need to find a way to tap back into what made Dart so dynamic earlier in the year.
After Sunday’s loss, Dart’s tone was different. Gone was the fire from October.
His postgame press conference was quiet, flat. He looked like a young quarterback carrying the weight of a franchise that’s lost 39 of its last 50 games.
Since October of last year, the Giants have dropped 24 of 27. That’s not just a cold streak-it’s a crisis.
At 2-13, the Giants are staring down the barrel of their first two-win season since 1974. If they lose out, 2-15 would mark the second-worst winning percentage in franchise history, behind only the 1-12-1 campaign of 1966.
“It’s just a new experience I’ve never been through before,” Dart said. “That doesn’t make it any easier than what it is. You just try to do your best to stay positive.”
And that’s where Dart is now-trying to stay positive, trying to learn, trying to lead. The talent is there.
The flashes have been real. But the NFL doesn’t hand out success for effort.
It’s earned, week after week, in a league that doesn’t wait for anyone to catch up.
The Giants need a lot more than hope. But for now, hope is what their rookie quarterback is clinging to.