Giants Get Bad News Regarding QB Jaxson Dart's Week 12 Status

Interim head coach Mike Kafka announced that rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart has not cleared the league's protocol and will miss Sunday's tilt against the Detroit Lions.

Nov 16, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) looks on before the game against the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart will miss his second straight game as he continues to work his way through the league’s protocol, interim head coach Mike Kafka announced on Friday.

Dart has advanced to the latter stages of the league’s protocol after suffering a concussion against the Chicago Bears two weeks ago during the third quarter of that game. 

“He's just in the protocol, and he's just working through that phasing of it,” Kafka said Friday. “So, based on the testing and the results, we're declaring him out for this week.”

Kafka declined to say whether Dart had any setbacks, deferring to the doctors involved in the evaluation.  

“We're just living by the protocol and what the doctors' opinions are,” he said.  

With Dart set to miss a second game, that raises questions as to whether he might be cleared in time for the following week’s game, a Monday night contest against the New England Patriots, which is then followed by the Giants’ bye.

Kafka understandably didn’t want to look too far down the road.

“My only concern was just making sure Jaxson's healthy and right,” he said. “We have a lot of trust in the doctors. We have a lot of trust in that process, and we go through it. 

“I know myself, I've had a couple of concussions over the course of my career, and you just want to feel comfortable and good. So, I think having that trust and understanding that everyone's just looking out for your best interest is important, and we are certainly doing that with Jaxson.

“Wherever he ends up getting to in this concussion protocol, which is, again, this very vague term that, again, as a coach, I'm not a medical professional, so I'm not going to speak on the process, but I trust it.” 

Jameis Winston, who got the start last week, will get his second start this season in place of the rookie. Last week against the Packers, Winston completed 65.5% of his pass attempts for 201 yards, but he also threw a huge interception late in the game that helped seal the Giants' loss.

Giants Final Injury Status Report

Out

• QB Jaxson Dart (concussion
• OL Kayvon Thibodeaux (shoulder)
• CB Paulson Adebo (knee)
• TE Thomas Fidone II (foot)

Questionable

• CB Deonte Banks (hip)
• S Tyler Nubin (neck)
• RB Eric Gray (knee) - in 21-day window

Lions Final Injury Status Report

Out

• CB Terrion Arnold (Concussion)
• S Kerby Joseph (Knee)
• EDGE Marcus Davenport (Shoulder)
• EDGE Josh Pascal (Back)
• OL Miles Frazier (Knee)

Questionable

•  T Taylor Decker (Shoulder) 
• T Penei Sewell (Ankle) 
• C Graham Glasgow (Knee)
•  G Tate Ratledge (Knee)
• CB D.J. Reed (Hamstring)
• WR Isaac TeSlaa (Oblique)
• RB Sione Vaki (Ankle)
•  CB Khalil Dorsey (Wrist)

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