Giants Notes: Letting Jaxson Dart Be His Own Qb, Odell Beckham Jr. Making Strides In The System

East Rutherford, N.J – The Giants were back on the practice field as their Week 1 regular-season matchup against the Dallas Cowboys quickly approaches. 

Following Tuesday’s practice, we heard from coordinators Matt Nagy and Dennard Wilson, who spoke about where things stand at this point in training camp.

Here are some of the highlights…

Letting Jaxson Dart be his own player

Quarterback Jaxson Dart enters his second season in the NFL with sky-high external expectations. Players often take a considerable leap in their second pro season, and fans are hoping that Dart is no exception. 

With Nagy leading the offense, it’s fair to wonder if he can help get out of Dart what he did from Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. Nagy was the Chiefs' offensive coordinator for Mahomes' rookie season and then returned to the coaching staff in 2022, working with Mahomes again last season. 

While there may be some similarities in how Dart and Mahomes play, especially their ability to turn a seemingly broken play into something special, Nagy said that he wants Dart to be his own player.

“He did [ask about Mahomes] early on, just trying to kind of understand some of the things within this offense that we’re going to do, which I think is more than fair,” Nagy said. “Most quarterbacks will ask those question, but we want to make it real clear that Jaxson is going to be Jaxson, and I think that’s very important for him to know and for us to know as coaches. 

“Whatever your strengths are, we better maximize that, and he’s got a hell of a lot of strengths.”

Odell making progress

The Giants suffered a potentially significant blow to their receiver group on Tuesday, as Calvin Austin III went down with what looked to be a knee injury, needing to be carted off. 

While teams never want to see a player go down, Austin missing time could open a door for Odell Beckham Jr., who is one of a handful of Giants receivers fighting for a roster spot. 

Speaking about Beckham, Nagy said that while the veteran came into OTAs and “really didn’t know anything” about the system initially, he’s taken huge strides since the start of training camp.

“We get back here in training camp and every day he’s getting more and more reps and he’s starting to understand within our system, like in the pass game for instance, if we have certain concepts, he now knows why those concepts are paired together to make sense, like for certain routes in a concept,” Nagy explained. 

“So now he can play a little faster and really let his physical skills jump out to all of us and make plays.”

Wilson likes the competition at corner

As the Giants head into their preseason finale against the Jets on Friday night, cornerback has been one of the best position battles to watch. 

With Paulson Adebo coming off an inconsistent 2025 season and missing time due to injury during this year’s camp, Greg Newsome II and Deonte Banks have seen the bulk of the reps with the starting offense. 

While Wilson didn’t get into specifics on who might have the edge as starters, he did say that, overall, he likes what he’s seen from the group.

“Right now, I see a bunch of young men trying to get better,” Wilson said. “Every day they’re going out there and they’re competing against our offense. You’ve seen them in the games that we’ve have in the preseason and the preseason practices, they’re coming out there and trying to detail their work. Right now, everybody’s fighting to play, and I like where they’re all at.”

Banks, of course, has had his struggles over the past two seasons, but Wilson sees the former first-round pick playing with confidence, and that’s gone a long way.

“I think he just has belief in himself right now, and he has a good group of DB coaches in that room who believe in him, the players believe in him, and he’s playing with confidence,” said Wilson. “He’s out there making the plays he’s supposed to make, he’s detailed on his assignments, being where he’s supposed to be, and that’s given him an opportunity to make plays.

“As long as he keeps doing that, he’ll continue to get better.”