Jameis Winston sinks Giants with forgettable performance in relief of Jaxson Dart

Jameis Winston‘s initial thoughts when he first saw Jaxson Dart go down to injury in the first quarter on Monday night were just to pray. 

“Lifting him up, hoping that everything would be fine,” Winston said. 

Things, of course, didn’t end up being fine for Dart and the Giants though as the young quarterback would be ruled out for the contest due to a knee injury. 

So Winston was quickly thrust into the QB1 spot, and it didn’t quite go as planned. 

“We didn’t execute,” head coach John Harbaugh said. 

Winston certainly looked the part of a backup as he missed open receiver after open receiver, under throwing several seemingly makable throws.

He completed just 11-of-27 passes for 111 yards and threw a bad interception in the red zone, forcing a throw on third-and-seven to end what was shaping up to be a successful drive. 

“We had one-on-one coverage,” the QB explained. “They got pressure up the middle and I gave our guy a chance and the corner slipped underneath — he saw the ball coming out of my hand before the receiver and made a play on it.”

Unfortunately for Winston that became a common theme throughout the night. 

New York failed in their only other red zone opportunity for the contest, putting just six points on the board while also finishing an ugly 3-for-14 on third down. 

“We have to execute better,” Winston said. “We are focusing on being in better down-and-distance — we were in third-and-long a lot, so we have to execute better — I have to execute better on first and second down.”

And the Giants will certainly need him to be better very quickly, as Dart is expected to be sidelined for about 2-to-4 weeks, sources tell SNY NFL Insider Connor Hughes.

While Dart may push to be back sooner, that likely means Winston will be back as QB1 in Week 3 against the Titans.  

“My role is to keep him lifted up, keep this team motivated and put this game behind us,” Winston said. “Find ways to be solution-oriented and have a better week of preparation, a better game of efficiency, and to get a win.”