Jaxson Dart on Playing Under Center, Longer Play Calls, & Being A New York Quarterback

Jackson Dar with us on the MMQB podcast.

Jackson, thank you so much for making some time with us.

We really appreciate it.

Um, just our opportunity to see Giants practice.

A lot's been made in the outside world of everybody talking about the under center transition in this evolution or revolution of the NFL.

What do you make of it?

Do you think too much is made of it for just a couple feet and coming under center, or what's kind of been your process of repping that a little bit in camp?

I mean, I like it honestly, it's, it's not too big of a deal for me.

Um, just go out there, um.

You know, I like the, the balance of the, the run game and the pass game, and, uh, I think our coaches have done an amazing job marrying things up and, uh, makes things really difficult for, for the defense, and I think it definitely gives, you know, us a little bit of an advantage, and I think that you're always searching for that year in and year out.

So, um, it's been a lot of fun to play in and I think the personnel that we have suits it.

You have a ton of experience on that side of the coaching staff, right?

So you have Matt Naggy who's been a head coach.

You have Brian.

Callen been head coach.

You have Greg Roman, a ton of background as an offensive coordinator, Tim Kelly, Willie Taggart, um, what has that given you as a quarterback going through, and obviously you haven't seen it in a game yet, but what have the last 5 months been like going, going through having a staff with that much experience on it?

Yeah, the staff is definitely very special, uh, I think that we all saw that as it was formulating and, um, the moves that we were making in in each room in each unit and, um, you know, we could even say the same thing about the defensive side of the ball.

I mean the whole the staff as a whole, um, I think it's very unique with how much experience with, um, you know, we have a lot of guys who have won Super Bowls and a lot of, um, you know, coaches who have done it at the highest level for such a long time.

Um, so you, you definitely, there's a different kind of respect that you have when you walk into the room each and every day from just a credibility standpoint off the bat, and then, um, they're all great people too, and I think that it, that that would be really easy to have a room full of egos, and I think that something that's really unique about what we have right now is that you don't feel that at all.

Everybody's bought in, um, wants to be here.

I mean, a lot of the, the people that you mentioned, they don't really have to be here, um, you know, they're still on contracts in, in other places, but I think it just says a lot about.

The culture, um, the direction this place is heading, about everybody wanting to, to buy in and really see this place succeed, can you change the way that you process or evolve the way that you process in the pocket over time and did Matt's offense or does Matt's offense ask you to do it in a different way than maybe Brian's did?

Uh, I think that there's, there's, uh, different complexions for sure from the offenses, but at the same time how I've always is, is ball is ball, and I think that when you have a lot of experience growing up playing in different offense, playing in different systems from the time that you're in, you know, junior high, high school, all the way up to, to college, and, um , and now like you're, you're constantly evolving as a player, so there's a lot of things that you have repetition.

Um, in your bag and maybe it hasn't been brought out in a little bit, but you have experience, you have experience doing it, so, um, there's things that you gotta learn each and every year.

There's things that I'm learning still about this offense, but what I love is that, you know, our coaches are just really trying to put our, our players in the best situations based off of, you know, what we feel comfortable with, what we can succeed at, and really excel for our team to win.

Is it, has it been an adjustment with the verbiage like that's one of the.

Things like when I've talked to your coaches is like maybe the primary thing or they they believe this primary thing for you going from I guess earlier in your your football life like coming up and then last year a lot of one word play calls to having bigger longer play calls like how much of an adjustments that been for you?

Honestly I think it's way easier um I think that I mean when you when you have a play call like you're telling a story so.

Um, I mean there's a lot of tags, but the tags are telling what people are doing, so it, it forms a picture in your mind, and, um, when you can see the play as the, as the play calls coming in, it's really, it's kind of easy to just, you know, get out and, and really, you know, like our coaches say just kind of tell the story to the, to the huddle and, um, I think that from a schematic standpoint like.

Like I said, you're learning each and every year, but you know I have a lot of experience, you know, playing in different systems and using different terminology, so, um, I think the adjustment, you know, with that, um, comes pretty quick.

I know sometimes coaches will look back on guys that they've worked at at a young age worked with at a young age and like teaching and offense, um, your new offensive coordinator had Pat.

Holmes, um, when he was young, how much have you talked to, to Matt about Pat as a young player and how much have you actually watched what he did within the offense?

Well, I mean the install is, is all their stuff in Kansas City, so that's, that's really all that we're watching when it comes to an installation process of, you know, what we're putting in, um, each day and.

Uh, I've, I've asked a ton of questions about Pat.

You know, Coach Nags is kind of the, the guy, um, you know, you hear the stories about him standing on the table for Pat, you know, when he was coming out during the, the process.

So, you know, you ask those questions about just development, um, and, uh, and I think that when you know, you see, you know, who is, is the best quarterback in the league right now succeed at that level, um, you're just always trying to pick the, the coordinator's head and.

Um, you know, I just ask as many questions as you can.

Can Matt still sling it?

Like, have you gotten any of the arena league tapes?

Have you seen him?

We got those.

Oh yeah, we got those.

He was crazy.

I mean, those, those arena tape, uh, footage was awesome to see, but, uh, we actually had a Hail Mary, um, practice, um, you know, a little portion of practice the other day, and yeah, he wanted, he wanted to throw it.

He thought that he could beat me in a long toss, um, and he wanted to try to put a few out there.

Did he tear his rotator cuff, or yeah, you could tell he was feeling it, especially, you know, he kind of had like, he felt some adrenaline when he was trying to put it out there, and then, uh, the next day he didn't, he didn't throw too much.

The next day he didn't beat, did he?

No, he didn't beat me.

Was it close?

No, but he can still spin it though.

Like he'll throw to the receivers, he'll throw to the tight ends, and, and he's spinning it for sure, OK, um.

Like the other part of your game that I think people have talked a lot about is the runner versus the the passer, right?

And obviously I think one thing that everybody says about you is what sort of competitor you are and I know you wanna help your team any way possible.

Um, how are you sort of learning to, to, to, to find the right balance, you know, and I guess what a lot of coaches will say time and a place, right?

Like .

How have you gone through the process of of trying to learn how to do that even though the fact, even though you're not seeing very much live action right now?

Uh, I think it's really just watching the tape and, you know, having the conversations of when not to and when not to, uh, based on situations.

I think every year is different, um, and you're just maturing as much as you can as a player.

I think my rookie year like.

You know, I'm, I'm trying to come in and, and do the most that I can for my team to win and a lot of times we're in, you know, really, really, really tight games last year and, um, for us to have some explosive plays that required me to run and and do some things and, um, I think this year, you know, just the , the talent that we have around me, um, the talent that we have as a, as a team makes us more balanced as an offense, um, and like you said, like I think, you know, me being able to extend plays in my legs is definitely one of my strengths.

It's helped me get to this point.

Um, so you, you wanna use that in the right way and then at, at the same time, you know, my responsibility is to, to be out there for my team.

So, uh, from a health standpoint, you know, it's important for me to be as healthy as I was on the last play of the next.

I wanna like put this asks this the right way.

So like, is it almost like, is it like kind of tough because you have like an instinct that you've built playing in high school, playing college, now playing in the pros, right?

Like is that a challenge just like instinctively what I do in the moment because you don't wanna be thinking, you wanna go out there and react.

Is that like part of the challenge for you now is like I gotta just adjust my instincts a little bit so I'm reacting a little bit of a different way than I'm used to?

Yeah, I think a little bit, um, I think you when you, when I came into this game when I was a kid, you know, my mindset was 100% on the defensive side of the ball and the way that, you know, I played down exactly, and that was the way that, you know, he kind of just instilled in me all the way, you know, it's different when you're in high school and you can just run over anybody it didn't matter who it was, um, so you definitely build those things up, but.

Um, you know, this is a different league.

This is, you know, the best athletes in, in the entire world that you're playing against.

So, um, you know, you just make those adjustments and, um, I know that I'm gonna do great at it this year of, of making sure that I, I make the right decisions and, um, you know, that's really not a concern for me.

Last one for me, you, this is year two now.

What is the most New Jersey, New York thing about you personally now?

Are you eating like bagel sandwiches?

Are you listening to Bruce Springsteen?

What's, uh, how is your, how has the area changed you as a person?

I mean, the, the, probably I would just say like getting into Italian food has been the biggest thing, um, you know, on the west coast like there's decent Italian food here and there but I mean it doesn't compare to out here so um you know I'm definitely like.

Any, any restaurant that has a chicken parmesan, I'm trying it yeah so uh who's got the best, who's got the best?

There's like 10 chefs right now that are just in a complete white knuckle moment for this.

I know for the reveal.

I've had a, I've had a lot of really good ones.

I mean, chicken parm's elite.

It's the best.

It's the best.

I mean the one that like really just like comes to mind immediately is like Emilio Belato's, you know, great chicken parm.

Um, I like veal parms too, um, you know, La Bibi Prime in Jersey's, uh, is awesome.

Um, you know, you could have a, you know, the, the chicken and veal parm at Carbone is, you can't complain about it either.

So there's a lot of amazing places.

I mean, Blue on the Hudson, Blue on the Hudson has a great, uh, vodka parm.

So last one for me would just be like, what have you learned about being the quarterback in New York?

I think, you know, there's always an adjustment for anybody.

Being a quarterback in the NFL, it's a unique thing when you're in the biggest city, you know, so what have you learned over, you know, the last, I guess it'd be 16 months now since you were drafted about being a quarterback in this city that you think's gonna serve you for the next decade?

Well, I would say that there's, there's more eyes here than there is in anywhere else across the league, and, uh, I think that that comes with.

Um, you know, a lot of responsibility, making sure that you're, you know, you're doing the right thing, you're , you know, being active in, in the community, that you're being a good example for, for kids in the younger generation, um, and that's one thing that I, that I love, you know, I love to extend my hand and be a servant to others and, um, you know, try to just do my best to make the world a better place, um, but you know this is the, the best place to be, this was the place that I wanted to be coming out of the, the process and, um, I think just as a competitor.

You know, you wanna excel, you wanna achieve on the biggest stage, and uh you saw what the Knicks did.

Um, with their run and, and kind of just the, the momentum, the energy of, of the, of the state and city of New York and as well as the state of New Jersey, so, uh , it's definitely a special time to be here and, uh, I just wanna do my part, making sure that I represent it the right way.

Is that a motivator for you watching the Knicks, like, oh, for sure, for sure.

I think at the same time, you know, just having like relationships with some of those guys and, um, you know, being able to hear their stories, hear, you know, the adverse situations that they've been in, and, um, you know, see really see that team just like come together and.

Have the, you know, so there's, there's a special feeling when you're able to watch a team, and it doesn't matter what deficit they're in, it doesn't matter what they're going through, you know, throughout the game, um, but you never feel like they're gonna lose, and I felt like that was the culture that they created and it was really special to watch.

He's got a mustache.

He's talking Knicks chicken parm, like you got it, man.

You got it all figured out.

Like I don't, I don't have it all figured out.

I'm trying.

Thanks for your time, Jackson.

I really appreciate it.

I appreciate y'all.