Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart may require season-ending knee surgery, but he isn’t waving the white flag on 2026 yet. Dart is getting additional medical opinions before the Giants determine next steps, Tom Pelissero of The Ringer reports.
“We’ve learned a lot more [about Dart’s knee],” head coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday (via ESPN). “When we know what direction we’re going to have to go or whatever it might be, we’ll announce that. But we don’t have that yet, so I don’t want to get out over our skis on that.”
Even if Dart doesn’t undergo surgery, he will miss a significant amount of time after injuring his left knee in the first quarter of a 28-6 loss to the Rams on Monday. While it initially looked like an MCL sprain, the testing Dart underwent on Tuesday revealed a far worse injury. However, it does not involve the 2025 first-rounder’s ACL, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
The Dart-led Giants got off to a superb start with a 28-20 win over the NFC East rival Cowboys in Week 1. Dart completed 23 of 29 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns, but he won’t be able to build on that performance for a while. The 23-year-old attempted just five passes in Week 2 before the Rams’ Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart came together on a hit that knocked him out for the foreseeable future. The Giants’ offense generated little behind backup signal-caller Jameis Winston, who went 11 of 27 for 111 yards and an interception.
New York will go forward with the battle-tested Winston, a 12th-year veteran who will make the 90th start of his career against the 0-2 Titans this Sunday. The Giants are in need of insurance behind Winston, though, as 2023 fourth-rounder Jake Haener is their only other healthy QB under contract. Haener, who is on the Giants’ practice squad, attempted 39 passes with the Saints in 2024. That’s the extent of his NFL experience.
Now in need of another passer to join Winston and Haener, the Giants could reunite with free agent Brandon Allen, per Garafolo. That probably isn’t of any solace to Giants fans, who watched Allen throw two picks and post a 61.7 passer rating on 38 preseason attempts. Allen has been available since the Giants released him on cutdown day on Aug. 30. Over 19 career appearances (including 10 starts), the 34-year-old has completed 56.7% of passes, tossed 11 TDs against nine INTs, and recorded a 73.3 rating.