Did New York Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart take subtle shot at Shedeur Sanders?
Did New York Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart take subtle shot at Shedeur Sanders?
The New York Giants met extensively with quarterback Shedeur Sanders leading up to the 2025 NFL draft, including a face-to-face with head coach Brian Daboll that went viral for all the wrong reasons.
The Ringer's Todd McShay reported that during the pre-draft sit-down, Daboll presented Sanders with an install that deliberately included errors. Unprepared, Sanders failed to recognize them and things got tense.
"Shedeur didn't have a great interview with Brian Daboll in a private visit," McShay said. "An install package came in. Preparation wasn't there for it. [He] got called out on it. Didn't like that. Brian didn't appreciate him not liking it."
Albert Breer or Sports Illustrated followed that up with a confirming report that suggested Sanders was "pissed" at the Giants and Daboll, who are notoriously hard on quarterbacks during interviews.
'The Giants one, they give players an install, and there are mistakes intentionally put in the install,' Breer said via 98.5 The Sports Hub. 'He didn't catch them and got called on it, and it didn't go well after that. … He was pissed that they did that to him.'
Although Sanders came in unprepared, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, whom the Giants traded up and selected in the first round of the draft, did not. And during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Dart appeared to throw some subtle (or unintentional) shade at Sanders.
"You better be prepared going to do a Daboll meeting, because it's intense. He definitely wants to get the most out of you," Dart said. "I would say, if you're not prepared, don't step into the meeting, because you're going to get grilled.
"So they threw all that they could at me, and I was able to handle it the best way that I could. I think that just shows how intentional and how dedicated that coaching staff is."
It's entirely possible Dart had Sanders on his mind when making those comments or, more likely, he was just speaking from experience. As the football world saw during "Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants" in 2024, Daboll and his staff are very deliberate when evaluating quarterbacks.
The Giants put a lot of pressure on their quarterbacks and Dart passed the test. Sanders, on the other hand, did not.
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