The knee injury that knocked Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart out of their Week 2 loss to the Rams on Monday is worse than initially feared, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Dart could undergo season-ending knee surgery, per Schefter. Regardless, he will miss a significant amount of time, according to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
The Giants entered Week 2 riding high after a 28-20 victory over the Cowboys in their season opener. Dart carved up Dallas during a 23-of-29, 230-yard, three-touchdown evening. The 2025 first-round pick looked like a franchise signal-caller in the making against the Cowboys, but he was on the field for just seven snaps in a 28-6 loss to Los Angeles.
Dart exited in the first quarter after the Rams’ Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart sandwiched his left knee, though it did not look as if the injury would threaten his season. The Giants and their fans went to bed believing Dart suffered a sprained MCL and would sit out a relatively short period of time, but the testing he underwent on Tuesday yielded a much worse outcome. As expected, though, head coach John Harbaugh isn’t ready to rule Dart out for the season yet.
“Evaluations are ongoing. We haven’t got any final decisions yet. We’ve learned a lot more,” Harbaugh said (via Albert Breer of SI.com). “I wouldn’t really want to share too much until decisions get made.”
At the very least, the Giants are going to put Dart on injured reserve. That will cost him at least four games, but it seems likely backup Jameis Winston will take the reins for the rest of the season. The well-traveled 32-year-old has had high points since he came into the league as the No. 1 overall pick with the Buccaneers in 2015, but he has mostly served as a backup since 2020. Winston has gone an underwhelming 36-53 in 89 starts. Over 109 total appearances, he has completed 60.9% of passes, tossed 156 touchdowns against 114 interceptions, averaged 7.6 yards per attempt and recorded an 85.9 rating.
Winston and the now-retired Russell Wilson joined the Giants as potential stopgaps in free agency in March 2025, a month before the team traded up nine spots to draft Dart at No. 25. Dart ultimately led the 4-13 Giants with 12 starts, but Winston filled in when he missed two games with a concussion.
The Giants lost to Green Bay and Detroit with Winston at the helm in 2025, and he finished the year 37 of 66 for 561 yards, two touchdowns, two picks and an 82.1 rating. He went just 11 of 27 for 111 yards and a pick against the Rams on Monday.
Regarding Winston as a capable backup and a revered locker room presence, the Giants gave him a two-year, $13MM extension on Sept. 6. They had no intention of seeing Winston start any games then, as the hope was Dart would stay healthy and take a massive leap forward in 2026, but now their season may be in the 12th-year veteran’s hands. While that’s not the way Harbaugh drew it up when the longtime Ravens head coach took over the Giants last winter, it appears he will have to make do with Winston in his first season in New York. Jake Haener, who is on the practice squad, is the only other QB in the organization.
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