Throughout his rookie season, New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart frequently visited the blue medical tent for concussion evaluations, and protecting the young quarterback quickly became a common topic of conversation.
In the Giants' first preseason game on Saturday, Dart returned to the medical tent after taking a big hit at the end of the first quarter, enduring his second sack of the day.
Dart would eventually connect with rookie Malachi Fields for an impressive 15-yard touchdown. After the game, however, he remained puzzled by yet another trip to the blue tent.
On Sunday, Giants head coach John Harbaugh validated his quarterback's frustration over the concussion evaluation.
"I'm sure it's frustrating. I guess he maybe got the wind knocked
out of him a little bit, but I'm not going to be critical of the league or whoever's doing that upstairs. They do their job and they want to protect the players. I'm sure history or whatever they might remember, maybe that comes into play. I don't know if there is a similar situation; another quarterback would have been called in the tent or not," Harbaugh told reporters.
"There's no way he should have been hit there. I mean, it just shouldn't have happened. That was a basic protection. Should have been protected and we expect in that situation to be protected in the future. I mean, it's not like he's going to be never hit, never tackled, never sacked. But it shouldn't have been in that one, and it shouldn't have been that easy to get to him."
Given the protection breakdown that led to the hit, the Giants will have to improve their communication ahead of the season if they hope to keep Dart on the field. Harbaugh acknowledged that the protection package was "basic" and something he expects the team to execute better moving forward.
While there is plenty to improve and take away from the sack on Dart, Harbaugh appears focused on controlling what he and his staff can control when it comes to Dart's medical tent visits.
After missing multiple games due to injury in his rookie season, with many waiting to see if he can take the Year 2 jump that many of the NFL's elite quarterbacks successfully make, protecting Dart must be a priority for the Giants.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants' John Harbaugh validates Jaxson Dart's blue tent frustration
