Giants Look to Pick Up the Pieces After Jaxson Dart Injury (Big Blue Breakdown Live!)

With Dart out for the season, Winston gets a full week to prepare for his first start, looking to bounce back from a rough outing against the Rams.

Jun 9, 2026; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterbacks Jaxson Dart (6), Jameis Winston (19) and Brandon Allen (12) participate in drills during the minicamp activities at Quest Diagnostics Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh knows you have to prepare for anything and everything, but there's no way to quell concerns about losing your starting quarterback.

Jaxson Dart's serious knee injury puts backup Jameis Winston in the driver's seat as the team prepares to play the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. 

Winston, 32, will be making his first start since he subbed for Dart against Green Bay and Detroit in Weeks 11-12 of last season. He played well, but the Giants lost both games — 27-20 to the Packers and then 34-27 in overtime to the Lions.

However, Winston appeared to be totally out of sync against Los Angeles after he entered when Dart got injured early in the first quarter. The Rams rolled to a 28-6 victory, and Winston finished 11-of-27 for 111 yards and an interception, with a realization that he's got to play better.

"My role is to keep [Dart] lifted, keep this team motivated, and put this game behind us, find ways to be solution-oriented and have a better week of preparation, a better game of efficiency, and overall get a win," Winston said.

Harbaugh has expressed confidence in Winston, whom his teammates hold in such high regard that he was voted onto their eight-member leadership council going into the season. Yet no test of the team's mental strength may be tougher than moving on without Dart after going 1-1 over the first two weeks of the season.

"You deal with all the different challenges that you face and all the different adversity that you face, for sure," Harbaugh said. 

"And even the prosperity, you learned that last week [while beating Dallas], you faced some of the prosperity, and prosperity sometimes can be more dangerous than adversity. All these challenges are to put your best effort out there and play your best football so you can win a football game. And we're going to do that."

Logically, the Giants will do their best to get their running game going early to take some of the pressure off their quarterback, but the Titans will be prepared for that same tactic.

How well will Winston fare against Tennessee, given that he will have a full week to prepare and polish his timing with the rest of the starting offense? 

Big Blue Breakdown Live host Paul Dottino will discuss the state of the team, and fans can participate via chat or with calls on Big Blue Breakdown Live tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

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