Month: September 2026

Losing Jaxson Dart to a knee injury on Monday night was a “gut punch” to the New York Giants, in the words of his replacement. And that was before they learned that their franchise quarterback might be lost for the entire season. Now that body shot is in danger of turning into a knockout blow, ruining what once seemed like such a promising season. And only Jameis Winston can step in and save the Giants. But that’s mostly because the Giants have no other choice. Like it or not, the 32-year-old Winston is the best of the terrible options facing the Giants if it does turn out that Dart is done for the year. There is no Joe Flacco-like, plug-and-play starting quarterback sitting in free agency. Most of the backups who might be available in a trade aren’t much of an upgrade either. And the good ones who could provide some excitement will surely cost more than the Giants would be willing to give up. Which is why it’s Winston-or-bust for this star-crossed team in 2026, if what Giants coach John Harbaugh called the “ongoing process of evaluation” of Dart’s knee reveals the season-ending injury they so obviously fear. The Giants will say that’s not so bad. After all, they liked Winston enough to sign him to a two-year, $13 million contract extension just two weeks ago, making him one of the highest-paid backup QBs in the league. But their faith in him was mostly a short-term proposition. They saw him, according to a team source, as a solid veteran who was smart and talented enough to get them through a short stretch if Dart went down. Their faith gets shakier when it’s a long-term proposition they were hoping to avoid, especially since Winston last started more than seven games in a season seven years ago. That year, if you don’t recall, was a great example of the full Jameis Winston experience. His cannon arm threw for 5,109 yards for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019 — still the fifth-highest total ever. He also threw a career-high 33 touchdown passes. But he countered that with a ridiculous 30 interceptions (seventh all time, and the most in more than 30 years) as the Bucs went 7-9. Ideally, the Giants could keep their playoff hopes alive by acquiring someone that would make them less … nauseous. But look at the landscape. The other options are mostly even worse. Flacco would be an upgrade, even at age 41. He was terrific for the Bengals in six starts last season, and he’s got a long history with Harbaugh from their days in Baltimore. But he’s the only backup to Joe Burrow on a team with Super Bowl aspirations. He’s the insurance policy, so he’s not going anywhere. Everyone else? Yuck, either because of what they’d cost or who they are. Let’s run through some names to illustrate the point (and the Giants’ predicament). Mac Jones: The 49ers have reportedly wanted a second-round pick plus more when teams inquired about him over the past year. That’s too high of a price to pay, even if the Niners are selling. Shedeur Sanders: He’s got his supporters, but even the Browns aren’t sure he has a future. And the last thing the Giants need is a quarterback learning on the job. Derek Carr: There have been rumors that he’d consider unretiring for the right opportunity, but he’s 35 and hasn’t played in almost two full years. Carson Wentz: He was with Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy in Kansas City last year, but the Vikings don’t like J.J. McCarthy enough anymore to trade Kyler Murray’s backup. Jacoby Brissett: Presumably, the Cardinals could deal him if they decide to move on to Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck. But if Brissett loses his job to either of them, is he really an upgrade? Jimmy Garoppolo: The 34-year-old is also open to unretiring, but the last anyone really saw him was when he lost his job to Aidan O’Connell. That was three years ago now. Tommy DeVito: The Italians of Northern New Jersey would be thrilled, but even if the Patriots made him available, the Giants already know his train won’t carry them far. There are others, of course. Josh Johnson’s never-ending NFL story is currently playing out on the Bengals practice squad. Maybe Eagles GM Howie Roseman would be willing to swindle the Giants into a lopsided deal for veteran Andy Dalton or Tanner McKee. See, if there really are better options out there, they probably aren’t available anyway. Because why would any team be willing to trade a capable backup in the wake of the Week 2 carnage that saw three talented young quarterbacks (Dart, Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams) go down? This after Sam Darnold and Murray were knocked out in Week 1 and Tua Tagovailoa was injured before the season opener. At least Winston knows the Giants’ offense and has had time practicing with their players. That doesn’t count for much, but it’s better than nothing at all. OK, maybe it’s not much better. The Giants are almost certainly damned no matter what they do. Their best hope is that Winston can be the short-term solution they believed he was and guide them through the easiest stretch of their schedule — New York’s next three games are at home against the Tennessee Titans (0-2) and the Arizona Cardinals (1-1) and then at the Washington Commanders (0-2). If the Giants’ defense and running game are what they think they are, a 3-2 or 4-1 record with Winston at the helm isn’t that far out of reach. After that … well, that’s where the Jameis Winston experience could get wild. But there just aren’t many better rides out there that would get the Giants to the place they eventually hoped to be. So their best bet is to commit all their first-team reps to Winston and see where he takes them. It could be a very bumpy ride, though. Buckle up, Giants fans.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Caleb Williams has a habit of making us — the NFL world — uncomfortable. He doesn’t care about optics. He doesn’t waste thought on what the average NFL fan (or GM or coach) might think. He reacts authentically. He’s sensitive. He feels. He hurts — publicly. You don’t see that often in the NFL. You don’t see that enough, frankly. Think back to when he sought out his mother to cry in her arms at USC. Think back to when he used to let his mother paint his nails. Think back to that photoshoot where Williams was sitting in a — how to put this? — vulnerable position. And, of course, think back to Sunday when he sat on the injury cart and pumped his fist with tears in his eyes. That’s the incident that’s all over social media. You can guess by now: I don’t have a problem with it. And it’s hilarious to watch people crying on social media with criticisms about … another man crying. But it’s no surprise. Hypocrisy isn’t hard to find on X, Instagram or TikTok. The criticism is getting absurd. The memes — well, some of them are objectively funny. The silliness is fair, now that we know he could play again in Week 3. This is 2026. Williams isn’t just a public figure — he’s the NFL’s rising superstar, fed to fans all offseason through the media and Madden hype. He has opted into some of that, but not all. (The Bears and Williams, for example, declined a one-on-one interview when I visited camp this summer, in part because the buzz was going too far.) After putting up 59 points in Week 1, the Bears’ matchup against the Vikings was the most anticipated matchup of Week 2. When he does something objectively theatrical, people will respond with good-natured jokes. But the genuine pearl-clutching and hand-wringing? The idea that the injury cart is somehow sacred and reserved only for career-ending injuries? Get out of here. Let’s go back to the play where the injury happened for context. Trying to escape a sack late in the fourth quarter, Williams slid. He held his hamstring and screamed, captured clearly by the broadcast. He banged the turf with his fist in frustration. The team got out the cart, and — this part you’ve surely seen — he covered his face with a towel, eventually pulling it away to show his red, watery eyes. He pumped the air, like he was Kobe Bryant after tearing his Achilles. This is high drama worthy of reality television. But folks, I hate to break it to you. The NFL is reality television. The NFL is all about its drama. It’s no mystery why Madden wanted to put Williams on its cover. He’s fascinating on and off the field. He’s a great football player. But he’s also unique. And it’s this sensitivity that — I think — makes him different than the average NFL player, coach or fan. I can see why Williams was upset. It’s not all that different than the last time we saw him publicly crying after that big loss at USC. It was the sheer disappointment of a missed opportunity. He was on the 6-yard line — just a handful of yards away from a go-ahead touchdown. In an ugly game. Against a division rival. If he and the Bears had scored, no one would have cared that the Vikings won the X’s and O’s and stymied what was supposed to be a historic Bears offense. That’s a tough thing for an injury to take away. We also have no idea what that injury might have felt like — the level of pain. But I’m sure everyone can relate to a disappointment of this magnitude. The season looked so promising, even in that ugly game. For the rest of the fourth quarter, it looked like Williams’ season might be in jeopardy. Williams had to reconcile with his game — and his season — ending in major disappointment. Then we got the first sign of good news. “I’m actually happy it’s nothing with the knee. That was my first inclination,” coach Ben Johnson said during a postgame press conference. “But yeah, the hamstring could be pretty damaging as well. So, we’ll see how bad it is tomorrow and we’ll go from there. … We need the points desperately at that point. It’s a shame.” Now here’s a criticism that I’ll buy: Williams’ theatrics distracted the team’s focus at the game’s most crucial moments. “Everybody wants to keep morale up,” Bears defensive lineman Grady Jarrett told reporters after the game. “Because Caleb is the guy here, and so nobody wants to see him go down. Definitely have got to rally up, do more. We’ve got to finish the game at the end of the day.” It’s a bit hypothetical for my taste to wonder if the Bears would’ve won if Williams hadn’t taken the cart, hadn’t pumped his fist and didn’t have tears in his eyes? If the answer is yes, then the Bears have to examine their team-wide focus before examining Williams’, because one man’s tears should not leave the other 47 players without resolve. Football is a sport where toughness is — quite literally — on a player’s scouting report. Obviously, this series of events left us questioning Williams’ toughness. But bigger than that, if Williams is a superstar and he isn’t “tough,” can he be successful in the NFL? The way I see it: The tears don’t matter. The hamstring injury does. If there was a way for Williams to play through the injury, then there’s a problem there, because his departure worsened their chances. If there was no way for Williams to get back on the field, then what are we arguing about? The manner that he left the field? Again, get out of here. Let’s all take this opportunity to take a deep breath and try to get comfortable with seeing a grown man cry. From my vantage, that’s what this is about. People don’t like seeing their quarterback cry. I’m not one of them. I’m all for it.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports