
Jaxson Dart practice diary: The Giants' plan for him, making mistakes and ‘setting the standard'
Dart got together with veteran wide receiver Zach Pascal as players walked off the field to greet family members and relax. Pascal ran routes as Dart threw passes, with quarterback Jameis Winston, wide receiver Gunner Olszewski and tight end Greg Dulcich joining the impromptu throwing session.
Advertisement
'A lot of times, when you're on the field (during practice), it's your first rep of getting a play, especially as a rookie,' Dart explained later. 'Or a lot of times, you get one rep, but you kind of feel a little uncomfortable with it, so you try to take that extra time after practice to get with those guys, kind of marry up the timing and the expectation of each and every play.'
Every rep counts for Dart, who is preparing to make his NFL debut in Saturday's preseason opener against the Bills. To get a better handle on how the Giants are developing the first-round pick, I focused on Dart throughout Wednesday's practice. Here's a minute-by-minute account of my observations:
9:55 a.m.: Dart and the other quarterbacks take snaps from the centers in the final moments before the 10 a.m. practice starts. Dart arrived at the team facility around 6:30 a.m. to prepare for practice with meetings, treatment and warmups.
10 a.m.: Every practice starts with a situational walkthrough. As starting quarterback Russell Wilson leads the first-team offense down the field, Dart stands behind the play with the other quarterbacks and coach Brian Daboll.
10:04 a.m.: With the walkthrough complete, players spread around the field to stretch. Dart is fourth in line among the quarterbacks behind Wilson, Winston and Tommy DeVito.
10:09 a.m.: After a brief team huddle, players scatter around the Giants' three practice fields for position drills. The running backs join the quarterbacks to warm up with handoffs and short passes.
The running backs depart after five minutes, and the quarterbacks play catch — sort of. Dart is paired with Tommy DeVito, although Dart throws to assistant quarterbacks coach Chad Hall, while DeVito's tossed passes to equipment manager Tim Slaman. Can't have a quarterback jam a finger catching a pass.
10:19 a.m.: The top wide receivers and tight ends join Wilson and Dart to run routes on air. There's a focus on throwing deep out routes. Quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney gives Dart an approving tap on the helmet after a strong throw to Pascal along the sideline.
10:25 a.m.: Players shift to three different spots on the fields for one-on-one drills. Dart and Winston throw to the wide receivers against the cornerbacks.
Advertisement
One-on-ones can produce highlight-worthy catches, but the focus is on short passes during this period. This will be the only time during practice that Dart, who exclusively works with the second-string offense in team periods, will throw to the starting wide receivers. He's not on the same page with slot receiver Wan'Dale Robinson on a curl route on one rep, and they don't connect.
10:30 a.m.: As the one-on-one period ends, Dart and Robinson have a conversation. It's clear Robinson is explaining what he saw on the incompletion.
As most of the team goes through punt coverage drills, the quarterbacks retreat to a side field. They throw passes to tight end Theo Johnson and staffers as they prepare for the first 11-on-11 period of practice.
10:38 a.m.: The entire roster converges on the same field for the start of the first team period. Wilson is up first with the starting offense. Dart, with his helmet perched atop his head, stands 15 yards behind the ball with the other quarterbacks. He checks his wristband as offensive coordinator Mike Kafka radios the play calls into Wilson via walkie-talkie.
10:44 a.m.: Dart steps into the huddle to lead the second-team offense in his first 11-on-11 reps of practice. With the Giants focused on early downs during this portion of practice, Dart is taking snaps under center. That's not something he did at Ole Miss, but he's only had one fumbled exchange from center in 11 training camp practices.
Left guard Evan Neal commits a false start on the first rep, so he's replaced by Aaron Stinnie for the rest of the period. On Dart's first actual rep, he holds the ball in the pocket before attempting a checkdown to tight end Thomas Fidone that's batted down at the line of scrimmage. After three straight handoffs, Dart returns to his spot behind the action as Winston steps in with the third-team offense.
Advertisement
Tierney immediately consults with Dart after every set of reps.
'A lot of times, I'm just going over scheme with him,' Dart said. 'We're watching Russ or Jameis, how they operate something, and he's saying, 'Did you see him do this?' Just pointing out a few things coverage-wise that maybe I haven't seen so far and tips and tells.'
Mike Kafka on how Jaxson Dart's developing in training camp
🎥: https://t.co/Ku3aeOUq9a pic.twitter.com/mXHYuxmsU9
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 6, 2025
10:50 a.m.: The first 11-on-11 period ends, and the roster breaks up for a walkthrough period so the coaches can install the plays that will be run later in practice. Wilson is the only quarterback with the starting offense, as Dart, Winston and DeVito head to the other end of the field with the backups. Daboll, Kafka and Tierney spend the period with the starting offense.
11 a.m.: The second team period begins with Wilson again leading the starting offense. After six minutes, Dart is back on the field with the second-team offense.
On Dart's first rep, he rolls left after a play-fake and fires a strike to Pascal along the sideline. Dart and Pascal connect again on the next rep, with the quarterback lofting a back-shoulder fade to the receiver. Dart's touch on those types of throws has been a strength during camp.
Dart takes a 'sack' on the third rep. Sacks are rare since the red jersey-wearing quarterbacks can't be touched, and therefore they're typically allowed to keep a play alive to throw a pass. But the play is whistled dead as the pocket collapses, and Dart has nowhere to go with the ball. Daboll makes a quick comment to Dart before the next rep, which is a handoff. It's one of the few interactions between Dart and Daboll, who is focused on running the entire practice.
That ends the period for Dart, who is clearly frustrated as Tierney offers instruction. Dart crouches down and slams his helmet into the turf before standing by himself for the rest of the period.
Advertisement
'I felt like we were just a little off timing on a route, and I felt like I could have cleaned up my footwork a little bit,' Dart said. 'At the same time, the defense made a good play collapsing the pocket. There are lots of things you can't control with that stuff. I just felt like I had two really good plays. I kind of wanted to finish that rack with a good one, so I was just frustrated with how I finished.'
11:13 a.m.: The quarterbacks again head to a side field during a special teams period.
11:20 a.m.: The team reconvenes for another 11-on-11 period. After Wilson's handful of snaps, Dart is back in with the second-team offense for five reps.
Dart's first rep is an incomplete back-shoulder fade to tight end Daniel Bellinger that is broken up by cornerback O'Donnell Fortune. Dart claps his hands twice in frustration and shakes his head at the incompletion.
Remember the attention paid to Dart's 'clap' cadence at Ole Miss? He has mastered the verbal cadence, getting rookie defensive lineman Darius Alexander to jump offside, much to Daboll's agitation.
Dart's next attempt is an incompletion to wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette with a high pass on a crossing route. Dart keeps the ball on a zone-read on his next rep and is met in the backfield by safety Makari Paige.
Dart's final rep is a third-and-medium with the defense showing an all-out blitz. The blitz doesn't come, with defenders dropping into coverage on the snap as Dart fires a low incomplete pass to wide receiver Jordan Bly on a curl route. Dart again claps his hands in frustration at the misfire. Tierney offers a supportive pat on the chest as Dart rejoins the quarterbacks, while DeVito offers a fist pound that is ignored.
11:33 a.m.: The next 11-on-11 period pits the offense against the defense in a two-minute drive. Dart and the rest of the players and coaches move to the sideline for this game-like period. That's where Dart watches Wilson get intercepted by cornerback Deonte Banks to end the first-team offense's drive in a tie game.
Advertisement
Dart takes the field with the second-team offense trailing by three points. The offense has first-and-10 on its own 25-yard line with 1:10 remaining and two timeouts.
Dart connects with wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey for an 11-yard gain on an in-route on his first snap. He then hits Bellinger for 8 yards on a curl. After a timeout, Dart throws the ball away while rolling right.
The offense is facing third-and-2 from its own 44-yard line with 41 seconds remaining when Dart finds wide receiver Montrell Washington on a crossing route for 6 yards and a first down. On first-and-10 from midfield, Dart tries to hit Washington on an out route, but the pass is slightly behind the receiver. Cornerback Nic Jones, who had a pick-six on Dart's first pass of camp, wrestles the ball away for a drive-ending interception.
'We were able to convert on a big third down and get a few things rolling,' Dart said. 'Then it was man coverage, and sometimes, as a quarterback, you take chances with your matchups, especially in that situation when you're down (three) with under a minute left. You've got to try to go get a chunk, and Nic made a great play on the ball. That's just kind of what it is at times. There are great players on the other side of the ball, and they're going to make plays. For me, when I look at it, I think I could have put it just a little bit more out there for my receiver to have him make a play, but you just go back and you correct those.'
11:49 a.m.: The quarterbacks retreat to the side field with Tierney during a special teams period.
11:54 a.m.: The full team returns to the main field for the final 11-on-11 period of practice. It's a 'call-it' period, where the offense moves the ball until it scores or get stopped.
Dart hits Humphrey on an RPO, but the play is negated by an offensive penalty called by one of the practice officials. Dart tries to hit Humphrey on the next play, but the pass is nearly intercepted by safety Dane Belton.
Advertisement
Dart then throws one of his best passes of the day, firing a strike to Dulcich on a curl before the tight end turns to face the quarterback. A swing pass to running back Dante Miller on the next play gains a first down, but Dart is abruptly replaced by Winston after a Miller run on first down.
'You've got to be ready for the unexpected with (Daboll),' Dart said. 'Going into that, I didn't know exactly how it was going to go, but we were able to get a big third-down conversion, hitting Dulch over the middle. (Daboll) just had Jameis take the reps, and that's just how it was.'
Dart's 11th NFL training camp practice is finished after 21 reps in team periods. He completed 7-of-14 passes on what he describes as an inconsistent day.
'I'm super hard on myself, so I want to execute at a high level, but it's going to be good for me to go back and see the things I maybe made a mistake on,' Dart said. 'I think a lot of times when you watch film, it's never as good as you think, and it's never as bad as you think. You're two or three plays away if you're just putting the ball five inches in a certain spot, it's going to be a great day, and everybody is going to be super happy. But I think the biggest thing is just trying to make sure I make the right decisions, because the throws and the timing, that's all going to come along more with reps. But you just try to make the best decisions as you go along.'
12:10 p.m.: Practice ends after Winston hits Olszewski for a touchdown to cap the third-team offense's call-it period. There is no motivational message from a former player in the post-practice huddle. Instead, Daboll rips into the team.
'He just wants us to be consistent throughout practices,' Dart said. 'If you want to win, and you want to be the best, that's how you have to do it.'
The offensive players then run a few sprints before huddling. Wilson and running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. address the group to reiterate Daboll's message.
Advertisement
12:23 p.m.: Dart, Winston and the receivers start their extra work with the small group of receivers. After eight minutes, Dart shifts into the next phase of his day with a pair of media interviews.
General manager Joe Schoen has emphasized the importance of having a quarterback capable of being the face of the franchise. Dart will be a media darling if his play matches his engaging personality. As Dart conducts a 10-minute interview for this story standing outside the entrance to the locker room, he daps up every teammate that passes.
12:51 p.m.: Dart heads into the facility. The rest of his day will be 'all ball,' outside of a few breaks to eat. He'll remain at the facility until around 7:30 p.m.
'As the quarterback, you've got to set the standard of being the last one to leave,' Dart said.
Dart will grab a late dinner and then spend another hour in his hotel room reviewing film and studying flash cards he's made to learn Daboll's complicated offense. With Dart's NFL debut fast approaching, he's eager to put his preparation to the test.
'I'm pumped to get on the field,' Dart said. 'I'm pumped to go compete with the guys and start this journey I've made a dream of mine since I was a little kid.'
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today's puzzle
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
a minute ago
- USA Today
The GOAT will see the Commanders live in Week 1
FOX has announced its game announcers for the 2025 NFL No. 1 crew — Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi — will open with Giants-Commanders in Week 1, then call Eagles-Chiefs in Week 2, and Cowboys-Bears in Week 3. The Washington Commanders are must-see TV in 2025. Yes, you read that correctly. One year after going 12-5 and reaching the NFC championship for the first time in 33 years, the Commanders will have several prime-time games this season. In addition to five prime-time games, Washington has three standalone games. What is a standalone game? A game played at a time other than 1 or 4 p.m. on Sunday or traditional prime-time games. The Commanders play the Miami Dolphins in Madrid on a Sunday morning, the Eagles on a Saturday the week before Christmas, and the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day. But even Washington's 1 p.m. games are drawing the interest of others. The Commanders' Week 1 game against the New York Giants has earned "Game of the Week" honors from Fox. That means, Fox's No. 1 broadcasting team, featuring the GOAT Tom Brady, will be in Landover for the NFC East showdown. Joining Brady will be play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi. The Giants were 3-14 last season. While they should be much better in 2025, Brady isn't in town for the New York Giants. It's all about Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels and the expectations surrounding the Commanders in 2025.


Associated Press
2 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Mets look to end road skid, face the Brewers
New York Mets (63-54, second in the NL East) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (72-44, first in the NL Central) Milwaukee; Sunday, 2:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Sean Manaea (1-1, 3.52 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 25 strikeouts); Brewers: Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.15 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 93 strikeouts) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Brewers -115, Mets -104; over/under is 8 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets will try to stop their five-game road losing streak in a matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee has a 72-44 record overall and a 38-20 record in home games. The Brewers have the sixth-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .397. New York has a 25-33 record in road games and a 63-54 record overall. The Mets rank fourth in the NL with 145 total home runs, averaging 1.2 per game. The teams meet Sunday for the sixth time this season. The Brewers lead the season series 3-2. TOP PERFORMERS: Sal Frelick leads the Brewers with a .292 batting average, and has 12 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 28 walks and 42 RBIs. Andrew Vaughn is 15 for 41 with three home runs and 13 RBIs over the past 10 games. Juan Soto has 16 doubles and 28 home runs for the Mets. Jeff McNeil is 10 for 38 with two doubles over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Brewers: 9-1, .306 batting average, 4.00 ERA, outscored opponents by 35 runs Mets: 1-9, .191 batting average, 5.01 ERA, outscored by 23 runs INJURIES: Brewers: Logan Henderson: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jacob Misiorowski: 15-Day IL (leg), Jackson Chourio: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jordan Montgomery: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Bauers: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Rhys Hoskins: 10-Day IL (thumb), Garrett Mitchell: 60-Day IL (oblique), Rob Zastryzny: 15-Day IL (ribs), Connor Thomas: 60-Day IL (elbow), Robert Gasser: 60-Day IL (elbow) Mets: Jesse Winker: 60-Day IL (back), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brandon Waddell: 15-Day IL (hip), Dedniel Nunez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tylor Megill: 60-Day IL (elbow), Paul Blackburn: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Griffin Canning: 60-Day IL (achilles), Jose Siri: 60-Day IL (shin), Danny Young: 60-Day IL (elbow), A.J. Minter: 60-Day IL (lat), Nick Madrigal: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Drew Smith: 60-Day IL (elbow), Christian Scott: 60-Day IL (elbow) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.


Associated Press
2 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Padres and Red Sox meet, winner claims 3-game series
Boston Red Sox (65-53, second in the AL East) vs. San Diego Padres (65-52, second in the NL West) San Diego; Sunday, 4:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Brayan Bello (8-5, 3.03 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 88 strikeouts); Padres: Dylan Cease (4-10, 4.60 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 162 strikeouts) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Padres -137, Red Sox +116; over/under is 7 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox play on Sunday with the winner claiming the three-game series. San Diego is 37-20 in home games and 65-52 overall. Padres pitchers have a collective 3.65 ERA, which ranks fifth in the majors. Boston has a 65-53 record overall and a 26-31 record in road games. The Red Sox are 31-13 in games when they did not allow a home run. Sunday's game is the third time these teams square off this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Manny Machado has 20 home runs, 43 walks and 72 RBIs while hitting .297 for the Padres. Luis Arraez is 13 for 42 with two doubles and an RBI over the last 10 games. Jarren Duran has 31 doubles, 12 triples and 12 home runs for the Red Sox. Trevor Story is 14 for 37 with four doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Padres: 7-3, .253 batting average, 3.91 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs Red Sox: 8-2, .278 batting average, 2.87 ERA, outscored opponents by 35 runs INJURIES: Padres: Jhony Brito: 60-Day IL (forearm), Joe Musgrove: 60-Day IL (elbow) Red Sox: Luis Guerrero: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (flexor), Hunter Dobbins: 60-Day IL (acl), Marcelo Mayer: 10-Day IL (wrist), Liam Hendriks: 60-Day IL (hip), Justin Slaten: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Winckowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (knee), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.