Giants OC Matt Nagy sends clear message to Jaxson Dart after ugly practice

On Tuesday, the offense of the New York Giants endured what Jordan Raanan of ESPN referred to as "another rough afternoon" during Tuesday's practice. 

While speaking with reporters, first-year offensive coordinator Matt Nagy sent somewhat of a message to quarterback Jaxson Dart regarding how the offense performed. 

Giants, Jaxson Dart have high expectations for the team's offense this summer

"Today was an average practice," Nagy acknowledged, per the Giants' website. "Maybe below average. It wasn't good enough. [Dart] knows that. We know that. We'll put it on tape, but we also talk about success through struggles, and that's kind of – there's going to be some struggles as we go through this now in training camp and during the season, but how do we react? When you can get it on tape and evaluate and try to show them what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong, it happens quicker. And I think that Jaxson, per se, one of the most impressive parts of his game right now is the volume we've given him to get in and out of the huddle and some of the things we're doing, and he's aced that. Now, there's other areas that he needs to get better at, but we need to help him as coaches too and do our job."

Dart was allegedly annoyed earlier in camp when he was "having to help everyone out" as they were working on learning a new playbook. That said, Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media noted on Wednesday that part of Dart's adjustment under Nagy has involved spending "a lot more time under center, rather than in shotgun." 

It's no secret that the Giants want Dart to do a better job of protecting himself during games. The 2025 first-round draft pick missed two contests while he was in the concussion protocol last November, and he was checked for a concussion on five different occasions last season. 

"I played quarterback my entire life, and having a run game is the friendliest thing in the world," Nagy explained. "You want to be able to run the football. Everybody says it, but you've got to be able to do it. So, being under center is going to protect you with some of the play actions and different things you do...and Jaxson's had no issue with that."

What the Giants want to see from Jaxson Dart during the preseason

Per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, first-year Giants head coach John Harbaugh previously suggested that Dart and other starters could see a decent amount of playing time during the preseason, beginning Aug. 15 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Nagy indicated that he and Harbaugh want Dart to improve on "seeing the defense and taking it to the next level" during upcoming exhibition matchups. 

"Maybe we want to get his eyes to a certain spot in the progression, and he’s struggling to get to that point," Nagy continued. "If there’s one or two plays where he might not be seeing it well, let’s figure out why you’re not. And if you’re not, let’s just get rid of the play. Let’s go to a different play. We’ve got enough plays. So we’re digging through that right now. We’re filtering through that to figure out: What does he like? What’s he feel comfortable with? When we find those plays, you’ve got to go execute and make them happen on the field. I think that’s the biggest obstacle that we’re going through right now."