Giants' Russell Wilson delivered sage advice to Jaxson Dart after pick-6: 'Next play'

USA Today

23-07-2025

The New York Giants held the first practice of their 2025 training camp on Wednesday, and there were a lot of familiar faces among the group. There were a few new faces as well, such as starting quarterback Russell Wilson.
Wilson, a 10-time Pro Bowl selection and a Super Bowl champion, is clearly in charge of the offense at the outset of camp. He is being backed up by another free agent addition, Jameis Winston, Tommy DeVito, and rookie Jaxson Dart.
"I think I've covered this a couple times here, but I understand the question," head coach Brian Daboll said at his pre-practice media session when asked about how much of an input Wilson has had thus far.
"He's a guy who's done it for a long time. He's got a lot of experience. He's been in a number of systems, he's played a lot of football, he's seen a lot of things. He's made a lot of adjustments, and I think there's a lot of good give and take in our quarterback room. I think you need to have that."
Wilson brings his talent, leadership, and positivity to a Giants' offense that was near the bottom of the league in scoring the past two seasons. He is stoked to be working with the young wide receivers and running backs.
"It was a great first day. I thought we did a really good job. I thought we executed well. I thought we did some really good things, there's always things that we could always get better at after first day, especially, but I thought we did a really good job," he said. "Obviously, Wan'Dale (Robinson) in the first play, scoring a sweet touchdown. Just some of the things we did well.
"I thought Malik (Nabers) had two or three nice touchdowns. Some guys made some big-time plays. (Tyrone) Tracy had a good day in the end zone, as I mentioned, Wan'Dale, the offensive line did a great job communicating and being crisp, and we're so much further ahead than where we were in OTAs, but we still got more to go, so that's the good part."
Wilson's other focus is on helping Dart, a first-round pick in this year's draft, acclimate to the pro game. It's only the first day, but he's already tutoring the rookie, who threw a pick-six during drills.
"I just told him 'next play,'" said Wilson. "I don't know if you even heard me, it's loud out there, but I just told him next play. But he's got a good head on his shoulders and there's going to be plays that people make, you got to be able to think like a quarterback. You got to be able to move on to the next play, good or bad. And I think that's what we have to be able to do."
It's Wilson's team for now. He has a one-year, incentive-laden deal that he hopes he can max out. That hinges on him playing well and winning football games for the Giants, who have won just nine games over the past two years.
But he knows the keys will have to be handed over to Dart at some point, just the way the Giants did back in 2004 when they had Kurt Warner and Eli Manning. He makes sure to include the rookie in his process on and off the field.
"Jax sits next to me in the meeting rooms and stuff like that. So, we get to talk a lot," added Wilson. "I really like him. He's definitely asked a lot of questions and stuff, and I'm not one to hold back; I just give all my thoughts. I just believe in much is given, much is required. So you just keep sharing, and you keep learning as you're sharing, you're learning, too.
"You're constantly growing and constantly reminding yourself, too, oh yeah, that's a good point. Those little things. I think that's important to keep helping him in whatever way, which in turn helps us and helps me as a player, as a leader, and all of us. We all want to be great. We want every player to be great. How great can we get to collectively, and we can do that individually and add it up."
Wilson also remains high on the team as a whole.
"We've got a good football team," he said.
Time will certainly tell.