Giants fans are getting restless.
In the midst of a listless offensive performance in their home opener Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, fans began calling for rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart in favor of starter Russell Wilson who just posted 450 passing yards the week prior.
“We want Dart,” fans began chanting as Wilson attempted to force the ball to star receiver Malik Nabers in the back corner of the end zone with 49 seconds left in the first half.
Dart played sparingly in the Giants’ 22-9 loss to the Chiefs on “Sunday Night Football,” entering for three snaps, and has yet to throw his first pass in the NFL.
After the game, Wilson told reporters that the fans’ outcry for Dart to play was no problem for him.
“High’s and lows,” Wilson said. “There’s always tough moments. You have to have thick skin. You’ve got to be able to know who you are and what you’re capable of.”
Giants coach Brian Daboll sympathized with the fans after the game.
“Jaxson has progressed well,” Daboll said when asked about the calls for Dart. “We continue to work with him. I have a lot of confidence in him and the development that he has had…Look, I’d be booing too in terms of not being good enough. Not scoring. Not finishing. I understand that. We’ve got to be better.”
The boo birds grew even louder as the Giants attempted to score a late touchdown in the game’s final minutes.
Closing out the tough loss at home, Wilson was flagged for a 10-yard intentional grounding penalty on a first-and-goal from the 4-yard-line with 3:14 remaining in the game.
Daboll then drew up a designed quarterback draw on second down, which drew the anger of fans.
Wilson then threw the ball away again on third and fourth down in an embarrassing sequence for the Giants offense.
After the game, Dart said “he didn’t really pay attention” to any of the noise coming from a frustrated fanbase, including the brief cheers he received when he did enter the game on Sunday.
The Giants have a nightmare schedule upcoming, making it even more tricky to decide when Dart will play.
The Giants host the 3-0 Chargers next week before what should be one of their lone winnable games against the Saints.
They then face the Eagles on “Thursday Night Football” and head to Denver for another challenging game in Week 7 before playing the Eagles again in Philadelphia.
Some had speculated that Dart could start against the Saints, although the rest of that schedule is so difficult that they might have to wait until after the Packers game on Nov. 16 where their schedule begins to lighten up.