Jaxson Dart’s knee injury on Monday night sparked a wave of reaction online, but it wasn’t just the play itself that got people talking. It was what happened after.
On a third-down pass attempt, Rams defenders Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart collided with Dart, and his left knee bent at an awkward angle. Once the broadcast moved on, slow-motion replays of the hit started spreading fast.
But the attention didn’t stop there. Fans watching noticed several Giants teammates near Dart while he was being tended to, and that scene quickly got compared to what happened the night before when Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his elbow against the Cowboys.
Video from that injury showed Daniels’ offensive linemen glance at him on the ground before heading toward the locker room without stopping. Once Dart went down, the contrast between the two moments began circulating almost immediately. One account even lined up clips from both nights side by side.
The reaction was instant and loud.
“None of them went to Jayden’s birthday party,” one fan joked.
“Because Dart is a leader, Jayden is an egotistical child,” another claimed.
“This is bad man, Dak showed more concern,” a third fan wrote.
“Nah fr I peeped his teammates walking away too, shit was cruel mane,” a fourth added.
The comparison hit harder because Dart and Daniels know each other well away from the field. The two have trained together since high school, and now they’re NFC East rivals.
After Daniels’ elbow injury last November, Dart spoke publicly about it and said, “First of all, prayers to him. You definitely hate to see that and you send prayers for him for his recovery.”
Still, a few seconds of video can only tell so much. Monday’s clips don’t settle anything about either player, and they certainly don’t capture the full story of what each team was dealing with in the moment. But once the side-by-side comparison started making the rounds, fans had already made up their minds about what they thought they saw.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Finally Has A Win That Makes This Start Feel Real
Virginia Tech had already put together a promising opening, but the win over Maryland gave the early season a different kind of weight. The Hokies beat the Terrapins 35-26 to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2017, and they did it against a Maryland team that had not lost a nonconference game in 20 straight tries. Quarterback Grant Grunkemeyer kept the offense moving with 314 passing yards and three touchdown throws, while also finding the end zone on the ground, and Luke Reynolds stayed hot with 12 catches for 107 yards and a score.
For a team trying to prove its start is more than a good first few weeks, this was the kind of result that changes the conversation. Virginia Tech looked efficient enough through the air to stress Maryland all afternoon, and Reynolds has now stacked consecutive 100-yard receiving games as a reliable target in the passing game. The next question is whether the Hokies can carry that same composure into the stretch that usually defines whether an unbeaten start is the real thing or just a September tease. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech's 3-0 Start Faces Its First Real ACC Test
Virginia Techs unbeaten start has given the Hokies a little early momentum, and the timing of their first ACC game could hardly be more telling. At 3-0 for the first time since 2017, they have paired a strong scoring margin with encouraging quarterback play and a defense that has mostly controlled the early part of the schedule, enough to make this opening stretch feel like more than just a warm-up.
Boston College, though, brings a different kind of test to Blacksburg. The Eagles have been living on tight finishes, and their quarterback and overall team dynamic present a sharper league-level challenge than Virginia Tech has seen so far, which is why this matchup feels like the first real measuring stick for where the Hokies stand in the ACC race. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech's First ACC Test Could Expose One Road Concern
Virginia Tech heads into its first ACC game of the season with a perfect start still intact and a chance to validate the early momentum against Boston College. The Hokies have leaned on Grant Grunkemeyers passing to help build that 4-0 record, while the defensive front has been one of the more important early storylines as the schedule shifts from warm-up mode to conference play.
Boston College brings a defense that has forced turnovers and an offense that has had trouble sustaining drives on third and fourth down, which makes the matchup feel as much about situational football as raw talent. For Virginia Tech, the concern on the road is whether those strength-on-strength moments hold up away from home, where Boston College quarterback Mason McKenzie and the Eagles will try to turn a few key conversions into the kind of game that tests the Hokies early-season polish. [Read more 🡒]
