Giants head coach Brian Daboll hasn't said much about who will be starting during Saturday's preseason opener at the Bills, but he has made clear that at least one rookie will have some time on the gridiron: former Ole Miss quarterback and Giants' first-round draft pick Jaxson Dart.
That means Saturday's contest will mark Dart's official NFL debut, a moment he has been planning for his whole life. As such, you would think his stomach is currently a mess of nerves. But Dart sounds relatively unfazed ... and in the best way.
"I'm not scared," Dart said Thursday."When I go out there, I'm going to play the game I know how to play. ... I think if you're going to play scared as a quarterback, you shouldn't be out there."
To be fair, the Mississippi export did admit there could be some nerves pre-game. But he expects such butterflies to disappear when he takes the field.
"Maybe when I run out. Once I get between those lines, everything kind of just zones out for me. I'm in my zone," he continued.
Still, he's ready to lean into the brightest lights of his career so far.
"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 went on. "As a kid, you watch the stars on the biggest stages and that's what people remember forever. I think that's always been something that I've looked up to and want to make my own lane in that."
Best of luck, Dart. The fun will begin Saturday, Aug. 9 at 1 p.m. ET in Buffalo.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jaxson Dart Drops Confident Quote Ahead of Debut in Giants' Preseason Opener.
