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.
New York Giants fans are reeling on Wednesday, as quarterback Jaxson Dart’s season has been officially ended after needing surgery to repair multiple ligaments in his left knee after a brutal hit in Monday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
asserted
season → reel → Rams
While fans think about what the rest of the 2026 season will look like, OutKick host Craig Carton believes that it is "effectively and tangibly" at an end before their Week 3 contest against the Tennessee Titans, but he wanted to bring up a different issue when analyzing this all.
asserted
he → think → this
Carton believes the Giants hate their fan base – and Dart’s injury is proof of that in his eyes.
asserted
injury → believe → eyes
"The Giants hate you because they’re protecting information like it’s, I don’t know, what’s a good comparison?
asserted
what → hate → information
They’re protecting information like it’s McCarthyism back in the day.
asserted
it → protect → day
That’s a leap, I know it’s a leap.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
The bouncing ball for Carton begins with what ESPN’s Laura Rutledge reported during the "Monday Night Football" broadcast, where the Rams defeated the Giants, 28-6, following Dart’s injury just seven plays into the game.
asserted
Rams → bounce → game
Rutledge spoke with Giants GM Joe Schoen, who noted that Dart would be fine.
asserted
Dart → speak → Schoen
"The Giants hate you because they’re protecting information like it’s, I don’t know, what’s a good comparison?
asserted
what → hate → information
They’re protecting information like it’s McCarthyism back in the day.
asserted
it → protect → day
That’s a leap, I know it’s a leap.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
The bouncing ball for Carton begins with what ESPN’s Laura Rutledge reported during the "Monday Night Football" broadcast, where the Rams defeated the Giants, 28-6, following Dart’s injury just seven plays into the game.
asserted
Rams → bounce → game
Rutledge spoke with Giants GM Joe Schoen, who noted that Dart would be fine.
asserted
Dart → speak → Schoen
"Joe Schoen, the general manager of the New York Giants, essentially tells a national football audience that he’s fine.
asserted
he → tell → audience
He might not come into this game, but the injury is nothing for Giants fans to be worried about," Carton said.
uncertain
Carton → come → game
Fast forward, we hear after the game, we’re thinking three-to-five weeks, maybe four-to-six weeks, and that it’s a sprain of the MCL.
asserted
it → hear → MCL
That’s good news.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
That means that Jaxson didn’t tear the ACL, there’s no meniscus tear, and it’s a injury he can come back from and still play football this year.
asserted
he → mean → football
Then, we look at the Giants’ schedule and theoretically, the next couple of weeks not that bad.
asserted
couple → look → weeks
"But here’s the hubris of this particular Giants regime and it’s led by the capo himself, and that is Johnny Harbaugh.
asserted
that → ’ → capo
I don’t even think it’s a Schoen thing as incompetent as Joe Schoen is and as wrong as he was about the injury update during the broadcast, and man oh man, he could not have been more wrong.
uncertain
he → think → broadcast
He screwed the pooch on that one."
asserted
He → screw → one
When Giants fans, and the rest of football fans, found out that Dart’s injury was actually much more serious, Giants head coach John Harbaugh had just addressed the situation during his Tuesday press conference.
asserted
Harbaugh → find → conference
He said he wanted to wait on further evaluations and wasn’t clear about what Dart was dealing with.
asserted
Dart → say → what
Remember, this came after the initial belief that Dart would miss time with an MCL sprain, but it wouldn’t be for the entire season.
asserted
it → remember → season
Then, after Harbaugh’s press conference, NFL insiders began reporting that Dart is facing a much more serious injury and that losing him for the season was on the table.
asserted
losing → begin → table
"John Harbaugh decided that you, as a long-suffering Giants fan, the people that pay $100 to park at MetLife Stadium, the people that drop thousands and thousands of dollars on tickets and on the product, which has sucked, for the last decade, he decides to play Stalin with you.
asserted
he → decide → you
He decides you don’t deserve information," Carton added.
asserted
Carton → decide → information
"That’s a slap in the face to Giants fans when the report is out there.
asserted
report → ’ → fans
And the report only comes from one or two places.
asserted
report → come → places
Let’s play this out for a second, OK?
asserted
’s → let → second
When the insiders get a report, it either comes from directly a team source, A, or it comes from directly the players or their representatives, B.
asserted
it → get → players
"When the information is now public that the injury is now worse than initially thought, and the Giants were the people that told the national audience and Giants fan base at halftime it’s not that bad, and that by proxy means you’ve given the fan base bad information and far more positive than the reality of the situation, why would you leave the fan base with bad information?
asserted
you → think → information
Why not just, at that press conference, that took place within an hour of the report coming out that the injury to Jaxson Dart was far more serious, why not acknowledge it?"
asserted
injury → take → it
Carton added: "You’d think that after a decade of losing and all the promise this year, the least the Giants could do is be straight with their fan base."
uncertain
Giants → add → base
It’s a bleak outlook for Giants fans moving forward this season, and it hurts even more considering the hype that followed Week 1’s victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
asserted
that → ’ → Cowboys
It felt that the Harbaugh era, led by Dart at quarterback, was on to bigger and better things than the second-worst record in the NFL over the last decade.
asserted
era → feel → decade
And while the Giants could still string together wins, especially with easier opponents in "toss-up games" over the next few weeks, Carton doesn’t want the fan base to have any false hope.
uncertain
base → string → hope
"Don’t get it twisted: the New York Giants’ season is over," he said.
asserted
he → get → ?
The Aporia
