Hard Knocks Clip Reveals How NFC East Opponent Views Giants QB Jaxson Dart

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is still trying to figure out why he receives so much attention after he gets hit as a runner.

“This definitely wasn't the first time that I've been surprised that I’ve had to come out,” Dart told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Washington Commanders, in which he was removed from the game for yet another medical check following a hit he took as a runner.

“I was definitely surprised, just didn't feel like it was that big of a hit at all.”

Perhaps the words of Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt, Jr, which were captured by cameras and aired on the most recent episode of the NFC East-centric Hard Knocks, might shed a little clarity on the situation for Dart.

"Gotta go out and hit him fellas"

Dan Quinn on Jaxson Dart pic.twitter.com/X9hPUO0MxQ
— Giants Nation Show (@GiantsNationPod) December 17, 2025

“The quarterback is a very competitive dual-threat guy. He will try to run the ball like a running back,” Whitt said.

“He will try to run you over. He will try to stiff-arm. He doesn’t really run out of bounds. He doesn’t slide a whole bunch. We can get the ball off of him.”

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, standing before his team during a meeting, echoed Whitt’s sentiments.

“When (Dart) is out there, he’s a running back first, so this is a good hit by (Patriots defender Christian) Ellis on the sideline,” Quinn said while showing a clip of the hit Dart took at the hands of Elliss.

“He is not looking to go down and get into the slide.”

Therein lies the challenge the Giants have had with the ultra-aggressive, fearless rookie quarterback: getting him to make smart decisions when he is called upon to run the ball.

Interim head coach Mike Kafka, who seems to draw the question about Dart’s decision making as a runner nearly every time he holds a press briefing, has insisted that while they don’t want to “take away Dart’s stinger,” there is a matter of being smart out there, and that the rookie quarterback has done a good job of that of late.

“In terms of out in the field scrambling, it's not like he's taking guys head-on anymore,” Kafka said earlier this week.

“He's picking an edge and at least picking a soft edge and trying to get himself down and protect the ball, which is most important, protect himself as well. I thought he did a nice job this week doing that.”

It’s also helped that, either by design due to the flow of the ball or that Kafka now has the final say on the offensive game plans, the Giants have not called upon Dart to execute as many designed runs as he was doing earlier in the season.

Per TruMedia, Jaxson Dart has averaged 1.5 designed runs since returning from his concussion. Before his concussion, he was averaging 3.44 designed runs in his starting assignments. #JaxsonDart
— Locked On Giants (@LockedOn_Giants) December 17, 2025

Per Tru Media, via the Locked On Giants podcast, since returning from his two-game absence due to a concussion, Dart has averaged 1.5 designed runs per game.

Before Dart's concussion, when Brian Daboll was still in the head coach/offensive game planner seat, the quarterback was averaging 3.44 designed runs in his starting assignments.

At the end of the day, Kafka believes that the extra caution toward Dart is more for his best interest rather than any sort of conspiracy to take him out of games.

“I think the intent, whether it's the referees, whether it's the medical people up top, is to help player safety and make sure these guys are healthy and they're not getting banged up and dinged up,” Kafka said.

“In Jaxson's particular case, I think they're hypersensitive to just quarterbacks in general. I think they're hypersensitive, especially if you have been a repeat guy and have had a previous concussion, they're going to be sensitive to it.”

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