Brian Daboll may have found the one thing that can fluster his otherwise unflappable first-round draft choices: the coin toss.
Moments before Thursday's preseason finale, a 42-10 victory over the Patriots that capped an undefeated 3-0 slate, the head coach surprised outside linebacker Abdul Carter and quarterback Jaxson Dart with the news. The third and 25th overall draft picks would be representing the team as gameday captains.
For Dart, it was another test in his development plan, similar to how he was thrown in cold to Saturday's game against the Jets for one play during a Russell Wilson-led drive.
"I put him out there for the coin toss today and he's running up to me, 'What do you want me to do again? I've never done this before,'" Daboll recalled after the game. "Just the last second I told him, you're going out there, right when I got here today, a few minutes before we went out there. So he's thinking about that.
"Just try to do things that may come up one day with him. We'll keep on building him. I think Shea [Tierney] and Kaf [Mike Kafka] have done a really good job with him. He's done a good job. Credit the player, first and foremost. Being a rookie quarterback is not easy. Being a quarterback is not easy. He knows he has a lot of things to work on, but he's made progress every day. I'm glad we drafted him and I'm glad he's our guy."
Carter also wanted to make sure he knew what to do.
"Abdul was less," Daboll said. "I usually have the quarterback go out there and decide what we're going to do. He was like, 'Wait a minute, So, we're going to take the ball, but what if they defer, which way do you want me to kick?' He was out there warming up and coming over to me, I'm like, 'What?' And he's got like two questions. And I'm like, 'Don't worry about that. Just let's go.' But I wanted him to think about what it would be like one day."
Once they settled their nerves for the big moment, they linked arms and walked to midfield. They won the toss and, adhering to their instructions, elected to receive.
"I haven't been out for a coin toss since high school because at Ole Miss, we always wanted the ball first," Dart said. "I had to get my arm warmed up and get ready to go, so I had other guys go and do it for me. So, when he was like go do it, I was like, 'I can't even remember what to do.' But good experience."
The honor for the first two games went to Wilson and Brian Burns, another quarterback-linebacker duo further into the careers. They will be candidates when it comes time to elect season-long captains for 2025.
Thursday's coin toss might have provided a look into the future.