We already know — and knew — this much about Jaxson Dart: The kid is confident and fearless.
Dart, the Giants’ first-round rookie quarterback, confirmed that Thursday while discussing his upcoming first NFL game.
He will play at least a little bit (and maybe a lot) in Saturday’s 1 p.m. preseason opener at the Bills. It’s unclear — because Giants coach Brian Daboll won’t say — how much Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston will play.
But Daboll did say before Thursday’s 12th training camp practice that Dart would get game action in Buffalo.
After practice, Dart talked about all that.
“I’m excited,” he said. “This is just the start of a dream of mine, so I’m excited to take that next step. My family’s going to be there, so I’m super excited to have them [be] a part of this journey with me.”
Some of the Giants’ veterans spoke to the team’s rookies this week about what a preseason debut — a player’s very first NFL game, albeit not in the regular season — might be like.
This is what Dart took from that: “Compete, don’t leave any regrets out there on the field and don’t ever take this moment lightly,” he said. “And there’s no light that’s too bright to play in.”
Dart admitted he might have some butterflies Saturday “when I run out,” onto the field, but he also made a bold declaration when asked about his “no light that’s too bright to play in” comment.
“I don’t think that you can be an elite competitor if that’s not you’re mindset, if that’s not how you approach everything,” he said. “As a kid, you watch the stars on the biggest stages. That’s what people remember forever. That’s always been something that I’ve looked up to — and want to make my own lane in that."
Dart knows one thing: He won’t be afraid to make mistakes on Saturday.
“I’m not scared,” he said. “If you’re going to play scared as a quarterback, you shouldn’t be out there.”
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Darryl Slater may be reached atdslater@njadvancemedia.com.
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