Jaxson Dart was already stepping into a leadership role with the New York Giants—even if many of his teammates at rookie minicamp are temporary—before taking the field for Friday’s first of two sessions.
After receiving the script for Friday’s shortened 7-on-7 drills during a meeting Thursday, Dart took the initiative on the bus ride back to the hotel, gathering as many offensive teammates as he could to review the plays. “I wanted to walk them through everything and make sure we were all aligned,” he said.
“As the quarterback, you’re the one steering the ship on the field,” Dart explained. “If you don’t fully understand every detail, your teammates won’t be ready either. That mindset is crucial every single day. It sets a standard and lifts the level of everyone around you. That’s the mindset you need if you want to be a great team and compete at a high level.”
When asked how the practice went, head coach Brian Daboll tempered expectations. “It’s the first practice—mistakes are expected,” he said. “You learn from them, you correct them, and you move forward. Dart hasn’t worked with these receivers before and is calling plays in our system for the first time, just like everyone else.”
Indeed, there were errors early on—Dart’s first two passes were dropped—but he bounced back to complete 8 of 10 passes over the two sessions.
“I feel really confident in my daily preparation,” Dart said. “When I’m on the field, I don’t second-guess myself. That confidence comes from knowing the scheme and understanding the purpose behind every play. I take pride in that. But as a quarterback, you’re only as effective as the players around you, so I make sure everyone’s on the same page and fully prepared.”
Notably, Dart was the only one of the Giants’ seven draft picks to participate in the 7-on-7 period, with the rest limited to individual drills.