As New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart prepares to make the first start of his NFL career on Sunday against the Chargers, the Ole Miss product needed to be told to catch a few extra Z's by his coach Brian Daboll.
But not for a negative reason.
As Daboll explained to reporters on Friday, Dart might be a bit of a jokester at times off the field, but when it comes to football and preparation, he's "all business", even at the expense of sleep.
"No, he's the same guy everyday," Daboll said when asked about Dart's personality. "He's got a good personality. He's outgoing. He's a good communicator. He's a jokester at times. But when it comes to football, he's all business in terms of his preparation.
"He calls me late at night last night about red zone...It was pretty late. I was like, 'Get some sleep, we'll hit it in the morning.' But he's on and it's all football for him."
The Giants (0-3) benched former Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson in favor of Dart, the 25th pick in the 2025 NFL draft, after a Week 3 loss to the Chiefs in which Wilson completed just 56.3 percent of his passes and threw two interceptions. If Dart's willingness to skirt sleep wasn't proof enough of his preparedness, the fact that he reportedly met with Daboll for 10 hours on Tuesday sure is.
And Dart is ready for the opportunity to start his first game.
"I'm just going to lay everything I have on the line," Dart said Wednesday. "That's just the way that I play the game. When I step in between those lines, nothing else in the world matters to me except doing everything that I can to win it."
The Giants and Chargers kick off at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Brian Daboll Had to Tell Giants Rookie QB Jaxson Dart to 'Get Some Sleep' .
