Dart's Knee Injury Could Force the Giants to Rethink Their Entire Season

Test results on New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart’s knee have reportedly yielded worse news than initially hoped.

Per the NFL Network, Dart’s injury is “more severe than anticipated,” and the second-year signal caller is not only looking at missing multiple games but could miss the rest of the season.

An MRI on #Giants QB Jaxson Dart revealed a knee injury more severe than anticipated, sources tell me and @RapSheet. He’s out an extended period of time, possibly the season. pic.twitter.com/sQO7jBAJ9W
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 22, 2026

Giants head coach John Harbaugh declined to confirm the reports, saying evaluations were still underway.

“We haven't got any final decisions yet. We've learned a lot more. I wouldn't really wanna share too much until decisions get made, and that takes more than one person — everybody involved.

“So when we know, you know, what direction we're gonna have to go, or whatever it might be, we'll announce that.”

Dart was injured on the seventh play of the team’s 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night. The quarterback was sandwiched between two defenders, his left knee appearing to bend unnaturally as a result of the hit.

Dart immediately fell to the ground, clutching his knee before finally getting up and limping off the field for evaluation. He then went back to the locker room and returned to the field in street clothes for the second half.

ESPN reported — and Harbaugh confirmed — that Dart fought to return to the game, but the team, to protect the young quarterback from himself, prohibited him from doing so.

With Dart sidelined, the team will turn to Jameis Winston, who struggled in relief of Dart against the Rams.

“He's a very good football player, but that would go for any position, any player on our team,” Harbaugh said of Winston. “Injuries in the National Football League are part of it. You gotta find a way to overcome those, those kinds of things and play through it because guys come back and it's a long season.”

The Giants will also likely bring up Jake Haener, who is on their practice squad, to the 53-man roster. They could also bring back Brandon Allen, who was with them in training camp as depth, and sign him to the practice squad.

No Choice But to Carry On

The potential season-long loss of Dart, who came off a sterling Week 1 showing against the Dallas Cowboys in which he finished 23-of-29 for 230 yards and three touchdowns, is about as hard of a gut punch as there is.

But with 15 more games to play, the Giants will have no choice but to pick up the pieces, regardless of what the final decision on Dart is, and try to be competitive, something Harbaugh believes will be the case with his team.

“Historically, it's not a problem at all because the guys wanna go win. They wanna go play,” he said.

“They'll play for each other. They play for themselves. They play for the families. They play because they can believe they win the game, and it's never one person, never one person that wins or loses a football game. It's everybody.

“The more good players you can have out there, the better chance you're gonna have.

Even if it’s the quarterback, arguably the most important position on the team?

“You deal with all the different challenges that you face and all the different adversity that you face for sure,” he added. “And even with prosperity, you face some (adversity) at prosperity, and prosperity sometimes can be more dangerous than adversity,” Harbaugh said.

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