A lot of Giants fans became professional lip readers overnight.
Separate clips emerged of Jaxson Dart and a team trainer seemingly discussing what is expected to be diagnosed as a sprained MCL for the quarterback during Monday’s 28-6 loss to the Rams.
The first clip, aired in the first quarter of the “Monday Night Football” broadcast not long after two Los Angeles defenders sandwiched Dart and forced his exit, showed head athletic trainer Adam Bennett to coach John Harbaugh’s right and seemingly informing him of an injury timeline for Dart.
“… Around four to six weeks,” Bennett appeared to say to Harbaugh, who nodded with 9:51 remaining in the first quarter in a scoreless game.
The second clip showed Dart on the sideline in street clothes with 6:17 left in the third quarter and the Giants trailing 21-3 and seemingly saying he wanted to return.
“They wouldn’t let me come back out,” Dart appeared to say.
The third one showed Dart greeting Rams QB counterpart Matthew Stafford after the game and seemingly saying, “I’ll be alright” and nodding.
The Post’s Ryan Dunleavy reported there some initial thought within the organization that Dart may be able to return, but the team obviously played it safe.
When asked about Dart’s willingness to return to the game, Harbaugh said he did not talk to the second-year quarterback about that topic.
An official diagnosis for the former Ole Miss star has not been revealed, but Harbaugh said the injury is in the “neighborhood” of an MCL injury.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen told ESPN midgame that Dart is “going to be OK.”
“We’ll know more tomorrow,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll get an MRI (on Tuesday) and have a really good feel for it and be able to give you information for then.”
He added: “The fact that it’s not … the devastating outcome, is really good news.”
If these lip readings are accurate, it indicates there could be a sizable range for when Dart could return although his season is not over.
That the quarterback wanted to return is a good sign, although sometimes athletes attempt to fight through the pain.
A four-to-six-week timeline would have Dart out through at least Week 6, and the Giants could evaluate whether it makes sense to sit him in Week 7 in advance of the Week 8 bye.
That would have Dart potentially back in Week 9 on the road against the Eagles.
In such a scenario, the team could then considered placing Dart on injured reserve.
Should he miss any time, the Giants will need a better performance than the one they received Monday from Jameis Winston.
Winston turned in a dreadful performance in relief, missing receivers left and right while completing just 11 of 27 passes for 111 yards and one interception.
Said Harbaugh: “It’s just a matter of execution.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
