Jaxson Dart‘s running again landed him in the blue medical tent during Sunday’s 29-21 loss to the Washington Commanders.
The rookie quarterback carried the ball on 1st and goal from the 1-yard line with 11:38 remaining in the fourth quarter. And his head was folded backward awkwardly on a joint tackle by Washington defensive linemen Eddie Goldman and Javon Kinlaw.
The Giants’ medical team alertly pulled Dart off the field to examine him in the blue medical tent while Jameis Winston stepped in to run two plays at QB.
Dart returned to the game quickly for a failed fourth down try.
The Giants (2-12) did not announce the official reason for Dart being removed from the game, other than saying he was injured on the play.
But if it was a concussion evaluation, it would be Dart’s fifth including the preseason since entering the NFL, with one diagnosed concussion that sidelined him for two games.
Interestingly, although Dart has been criticized for not protecting himself enough as a runner, his injury happened on a designed run call by head coach Mike Kafka that gave the quarterback a pitch option to the outside but offered him the ability to run up the middle, as well.
Fellow rookie Abdul Carter, the Giants’ No. 3 overall pick, came alive for seven tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his most active game of his first NFL season.
But the Giants allowed 29 points to a Washington (4-10) team that had been shut out, 31-0, the previous week by the Minnesota Vikings, and Dart and the offense turned the ball over on downs with a chance to tie down eight points late.
The Giants have lost eight straight, and they play host to the Vikings next Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
They fell to 5-18-1 in the NFC East since Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll took over the franchise in 2022. And they now have a losing record against all three of their NFC East foes in those four years: 0-7 against the Cowboys, 2-7 against the Eagles and 3-4-1 against Washington.
