Story summary
Jaxson Dart, the 23-year-old quarterback for the New York Giants, is expected to undergo season-ending knee surgery after suffering severe damage to his left knee during a game against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night. The injury includes damage to his MCL, PCL, and meniscus, though his ACL seems fine. This comes as a significant blow to the team's prospects for the rest of the season.
Dart was injured in the first quarter when he was sandwiched between multiple defenders, causing a collision with his left knee. He had only recently become the starter after an injury to Russell Wilson earlier this year. In 14 games and 12 starts during his rookie season, Dart completed 63.7% of his passes for 2,272 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.
With Dart out indefinitely, Jameis Winston, a 12-year veteran who struggled in relief against the Rams on Monday night, is set to take over as the starting quarterback. The Giants now face an uphill battle, as they were originally projected to win around 8 games for the season but are now being offered betting odds of only 5.5 wins by sportsbooks.
The timing of Dart's injury has also reignited discussions about a so-called "Trump Curse," after the quarterback was praised by then-President Donald Trump at a Republican rally in May for having legs like tree trunks, shortly before his injury occurred. This curse theory suggests that players or teams receiving presidential attention often face significant setbacks soon afterward.
Written for “Jaxson Dart Injury Giants” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 26 other(s) covering the same event.
The Jameis Winston Experience is going to last longer than any roller-coaster-riding thrill-seeker will find at an amusement park.
asserted
seeker → go → park
The Giants fear that Jaxson Dart is going to miss the rest of the season after further testing on his left knee revealed greater concerns than a sprained MCL, The Post confirmed.
asserted
Post → fear → MCL
He was injured four minutes into Monday night’s 28-6 loss to the Rams.
asserted
He → injure → Rams
tRY IT NOWSo, a worst-case scenario puts the fate of what started out as a promising season into the hands of Winston, who hasn’t been a full-time starter since he led the NFL in passing yards (5,109) and interceptions (30) for the 2019 Buccaneers.
asserted
he → try → Buccaneers
“We have to get back in the win column, and that’s something I feel like we’re going to do,” edge Brian Burns said inside a postgame locker room that still was expecting Dart to return at some point.
asserted
Dart → have → point
“If Dart isn’t ready, then we’re behind Jameis.
asserted
we → ’re → Jameis
Jameis has done it before, he’s a vet and a winner in this league.
asserted
he → do → league
”
If Dart was simply going to miss two to four weeks — the preliminary prognosis — then there were worse times for him to be sidelined than against the softest part of the schedule.
asserted
him → go → schedule
Winston could be a catalyst in victories against the Titans, Cardinals, Commanders (on the road) and Saints if he plays as well as he did in an overtime loss to the Lions last season (366 yards, two passing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown).
uncertain
he → play → Lions
Or the Giants could lose all of those games, say goodbye to their season and become trade-deadline sellers if Winston plays like he did off the bench (11-for-27 for 111 yards) against the Rams.
uncertain
he → lose → Rams
“I don’t think you let it derail at all,” running back Cam Skattebo said.
asserted
Skattebo → think → ?
“We put our full trust in Jameis.
asserted
We → put → Jameis
When we get a whole week to prepare with him and get comfortable with him, I think it’s going to be a different story.”
asserted
it → get → him
Week-to-week unpredictability is the reason the former No. 1 pick has spent most of his career as one of the NFL’s highest-profile backup quarterbacks.
asserted
pick → spend → profile
“Jame-o can spin it,” safety Jevón Holland said.
asserted
Holland → spin → it
“I have no doubt he’s going to go out and ball — same thing he did last year when we played the Lions.
asserted
we → have → Lions
I have confidence in the coaches to put a scheme together around the individuals that are playing to be successful — and it’s our job as defenders to give the ball back to our offense.”
asserted
it → have → offense
The Giants expressed confidence in Winston by signing him to a two-year, $13 million extension earlier this month.
asserted
Giants → express → extension
His $6.5 million average annual value ranks No. 32 among quarterbacks, so he is one of the NFL’s highest-paid backups for his good locker room vibes and the experience to be a short-term solution.
asserted
he → rank → vibes
The Cardinals (1-1), Titans (0-2) and Commanders (0-2) all look like teams that could be jockeying for top draft position in 2027.
uncertain
that → look → 2027
The Saints (1-1) are an upstart threat to win the NFC South, but Winston is a celebrity in New Orleans after four seasons as their backup.
asserted
Winston → win → backup
All four opponents rank No. 14 or worse in total defense after two games.
asserted
opponents → rank → games
“Any time your quarterback goes down, obviously that’s a gut punch to the team,” Winston said.
asserted
Winston → go → team
“Just rallying around that and all of us having a fresh week to prepare and go out there and play our best football.”
asserted
all → rally → football
Does Matt Nagy’s offensive play calling change if Winston replaces Dart?
asserted
Winston → replace → Dart
“Obviously, I do some things really, really well, and we’re going to discuss that,” Winston said.
asserted
Winston → do → that
“We’re just going to focus on getting better and executing, being efficient and putting ourselves in a better position than we did today.”
asserted
we → go → position
The worrisome part about Winston’s performance was that he was bouncing passes, sailing passes and struggling to feel pressure on his blind side.
asserted
he → bounce → side
At his best, Winston imitated Eli Manning on the Helmet Catch and evaded a sack to throw the ball downfield to a diving Malachi Fields, who couldn’t hang on.
asserted
who → imitate → Fields
At his worst, he underthrew a deep slant to Malik Nabers for an interception in the end zone.
asserted
he → underthrew → zone
“The lull that you perceive is the fact that plays aren’t being made,” head coach John Harbaugh said.
asserted
Harbaugh → perceive → that
“That’s where that feeling comes from.
asserted
feeling → ’ → where
It’s not like they got down and that’s why we didn’t execute.
asserted
we → ’ → ?
We didn’t execute, that’s why there wasn’t energy.”
asserted
that → execute → ?
The next time that the Giants were in the red zone, Nagy seemed to cast a vote of no confidence in Winston by calling four straight runs (one negated by penalty) from the 11-yard line instead of targeting Nabers.
asserted
Nagy → seem → Nabers
Harbaugh and Nagy were second-guessing that play calling before the game ended.
asserted
game → guess → calling
“We didn’t have answers this week to get the ball in the end zone,” Harbaugh said.
asserted
Harbaugh → have → zone
It seems unlikely that the Giants will find a better starting option than Winston on the street in September.
asserted
Giants → seem → September
What needs to be reevaluated is whether they want to be one snap away from playing likely practice-squad elevation Jake Haener (39 career passes) if Winston gets injured, too.
asserted
Winston → need → elevation
“Absolute faith in all of our players,” Harbaugh claimed.
asserted
Harbaugh → claim → players
The Aporia
