EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The full Jaxson Dart experience was on display Saturday afternoon at MetLife Stadium. The New York Giants quarterback’s preseason debut in his second season felt like an extension of his rollercoaster rookie year, complete with a requisite visit to the sideline medical tent.

The hit that sent Dart for a concussion check was not the result of him playing recklessly or failing to protect himself while running the ball. Instead, it was a pass protection breakdown that left blitzing Vikings safety Jay Ward unblocked off the right edge. With Dart looking to his left, he didn’t see Ward until the safety’s helmet crashed into his chest.

Dart lay motionless for a moment before getting up as the first quarter ended. The independent concussion spotters signaled for Dart to get examined during the break between quarters, so he made the familiar trek to the hastily erected blue tent.

It was a scene that took place five times last season, when Dart was only diagnosed with one concussion, which caused him to miss two games. As was the case on four of those checks last season, Dart was quickly cleared on Saturday. He missed only two plays, including a 40-yard catch-and-run on a screen by running back Devin Singletary to put the ball deep in Vikings territory.

Dart returned to the field for a second-and-12 from Minnesota’s 15-yard line. On his first snap, Dart dropped back and couldn’t find an open receiver, so he escaped from the pocket to his left and flipped the ball into the end zone to rookie wide receiver Malachi Fields, who used his 6-foot-4 frame to snatch the ball over 5-foot-10 linebacker Ivan Pace.

That was Dart’s final play of the day, as he was removed after completing 3-of-4 passes for 26 yards. His performance included the improvised touchdown pass, two sacks and the trip to the tent. It all felt very familiar as Dart kicked off his second season under new coach John Harbaugh.

“I really respect the rules and the thought behind the NFL has of keeping players healthy and reviewing things, but at the same time, I’m still puzzled by it just feeling like every time that I get hit, I find my way in there,” Dart said. “Which at times, I still try to wrap my head around, but that’s all that I’m going to say about that situation. I’m really happy with how the drive ended.”

Harbaugh bluntly said, “We need to block better,” when describing the hit on Dart. Dart attributed it to a miscommunication in the protection scheme. Running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. was late to recognize Ward’s blitz and whiffed as the safety blew past him with a direct line to Dart.

BIG FOOTBALL HITS ARE SO BACK.

Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/11JOVdunxm

— NFL (@NFL) August 15, 2026

“I heard something that had my eyes on the wrong side,” Tracy said. “It was really just on me. I heard something, had my eyes on the other side, and that was really it.”

The Giants’ first drive also ended in a sack that Dart said resulted from another miscommunication. The Vikings blitzed on third-and-10, and Dart wanted to get the ball out quickly to safety valve Isaiah Likely running a slant on the right side. But Dart double-clutched as Vikings safety Theo Jackson broke on Likely’s route. Dart tried to weave out of the pocket, but was quickly dropped for a sack.

That there were such prominent miscommunications on Dart’s two drives demonstrated why Harbaugh had the healthy offensive starters (except for left tackle Andrew Thomas) play. The goal is to use the preseason to work out the kinks of a new offense while limiting injury risk.

.@UnoErra gets to Dart on 3rd down 💪

📺: #MINvsNYG @FOX9 pic.twitter.com/84qMZ8em9P

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 15, 2026

“We played all of our starting offense, except for our left tackle, and I felt like he didn’t need it — he would be fine,” Harbaugh said. “But felt like the other guys playing together was important, especially with Jaxson out there. And our quarterback got, I don’t know, 10, 15 plays out there of good football. So, he’s going to be that much better for the regular season than he would have been if he hadn’t played those games.”

The Giants lost 13-10 in a game that saw the Vikings play most of their starters for one drive on each side of the ball. The Giants’ starters mostly played two series, although several veteran defenders — defensive tackle DJ Reader, defensive tackle Shelby Harris, outside linebacker Brian Burns, inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and safety Jevon Holland — were held out of the game.

Here are five more takeaways from the Giants’ first game action in seven months:

Rookie ready to roll

Fields strengthened his push for the No. 2 receiver job, catching three passes for 34 yards and a touchdown. The TD showed good instincts — he followed Dart toward the left sideline while the quarterback scrambled — and his natural ability, as he used his size to leap over Pace to make the catch.

Fields also showed strong hands on his other two catches. The Giants hope No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers will do more next week, as he ramps up his recovery from a torn ACL and meniscus with a goal of being ready for the season opener. Even when Nabers is back in the lineup, the Giants still have questions at the other receiver spots. Fields has made an early claim to be the No. 2 at the position, especially with this blocking ability valued in what promises to be a run-heavy offense. No other receivers made a splash on Saturday, with Darius Slayton, Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin III getting first-team reps alongside Fields.

Odell Beckham Jr. predictably drew cheers from the home crowd when he checked into the game late in the second quarter. Beckham made his first catch in a Giants uniform since 2018 when he snagged a Jameis Winston slant for a 7-yard gain before halftime.

The @Giants crowd giving a big ovation for @obj as he checks into the game 💙

Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/XkxBfQJrTY

— NFL (@NFL) August 15, 2026

Beckham could have had a storybook return to MetLife Stadium if Winston had spotted him streaking open down the middle of the field when the Vikings busted a coverage later in the drive. But Winston was looking the other way, firing a slant to Fields for a first down on third-and-5. Beckham was the intended receiver on Brandon Allen’s interception on a pass over the middle in the third quarter.

Beckham finished with two catches for just six yards. His name and history draws far more attention than the typical receiver fighting for a roster spot, so it’s magnified every time he’s open and doesn’t get the ball. But the reality is the 33-year-old needs to produce to command a roster spot and the clock is ticking.

Big miss

The missed block was a major strike against Tracy, who has been the back in passing situations throughout camp. Despite Tracy’s history as a receiver, pass protection is the most important job for a back in that role. Tracy finished with two carries for five yards.

“I told (Dart) it’s not going to happen again, which it won’t,” Tracy said. “I don’t really have many of those on my film pass-blocking wise.”

Cam Skattebo took another step toward cementing his place at the top of the running back depth chart with four carries for 19 yards. In his first game action since a gruesome ankle injury last October, it was clear that Skattebo has maintained his smash-mouth running style.

“I thought I saw the Cam Skattebo that you guys all know and saw last year,” Harbaugh said.

Singletary’s experience could make him an alternative as the passing down back if the coaching staff loses trust in Tracy. Skattebo also has receiving ability, but it’s not realistic for him to play every snap. Singletary’s weaving run after the screen catch was aided by a lead block from rookie right guard Francis Mauigoa.

Don’t panic yet

It was disconcerting to watch Vikings running back Aaron Jones rip off an 18-yard run on the first play of the game, but it would be premature to sound alarms about the run defense. It’s important to note that the three biggest pieces added to bolster the run defense — Reader, Harris and Edmunds — were spectators. It was encouraging to see rookie linebacker Arvell Reese drop Jordan Mason by shedding a block and meeting the running back at the line on Minnesota’s opening drive.

Even with Burns sidelined, the Giants provided a glimpse of the modern version of their NASCAR pass rush package. Darius Alexander was the lone defensive lineman on the field on a third-and-7 on Minnesota’s opening drive with outside linebacker Chauncey Golston rushing inside and Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the edge.

Thibodeaux will slide inside in Golston’s place when Burns is back on the edge. Thibodeaux checked out after the first series and had a wrap on his right shin on the bench, but Harbaugh said he’s fine. Running back Dante Miller limped off after covering a punt and was laboring after the game.

Secondary outlook

Harbaugh said the Giants came out of the game healthy and should get some injured players back next week. Cornerbacks Dru Phillips (knee) and Greg Newsome (knee) participated in Thursday’s jog-through practice, so they seem close to returning. Cornerback Paulson Adebo (hamstring) was working on the side with a trainer during Thursday’s practice.

With so many corners injured, Deonte Banks and Colton Hood started and played the entire first half. While Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson-less passing offense didn’t make any big plays, Banks was flagged twice for penalties in coverage. That has been a trend throughout his career. Hood was called for illegal contact while giving up a 17-yard completion. The wide-open cornerback competition will pick up with the veterans returning to health.

Tyler Nubin started at safety alongside Ar’Darius Washington. Jason Pinnock mixed into the safety rotation in the second quarter. Nubin made a nice play to break up a crosser in the second quarter.

Special (teams) considerations

Braxton Berrios’ path to a roster spot will come as a returner. Averaging 15 yards on his two punt returns will strengthen his case. It seems telling that Berrios was the top punt returner and was also back on kickoffs with Banks to start the game.

There weren’t many opportunities to showcase the kicking competition. Ben Sauls nailed a 46-yard field goal at the end of the first half on the only attempt of the game for either kicker. Dominic Zvada was slated to kick in the second half, but he wasn’t called on. Harbaugh passed on attempting a 62-yard game-tying attempt with 2:22 remaining. The Vikings ran out the clock after the Giants punted.

LOS ANGELES — Kyle Tucker has produced essentially the same numbers for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season as he always has — just not at Dodger Stadium.

That’s become a problem for Tucker and the Dodgers in the first season of his four-year, $240 million contract, which set a record for highest average annual value, and it’s the oddest reason a player has sat out a game for the reigning back-to-back champs.

Tucker has produced an .840 OPS in his 245 plate appearances when on the road this season, right in line with his career mark (.844). At home, he has morphed into a shell of himself, putting up a .566 OPS and looking like a completely different hitter.

The Dodger Stadium version of Tucker would rank as the worst qualified hitter in baseball this season. So when Dave Roberts sat him at home Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers, the manager said his extreme home-road splits were part of the reason.

“Just being at home right now, I see the frustration,” Roberts said.

The recent sample has added to a growing, perplexing trend. Tucker had a strong trip last week through Chicago and Arizona, collecting eight hits and a pair of home runs and showing enough encouraging signs to say, “I feel a lot better.”

Then the Dodgers returned home. Tucker drew a walk off the bench in his first plate appearance of the homestand and has reached only twice since, also on walks. The 0-for-16 has dropped his batting average at home this season to .192.

Tucker’s drop-off from road to home this season is the second-largest by wRC+ this season. None of the Dodgers coaches or executives asked by The Athletic understand why.

“I don’t think we have a reason behind it,” Roberts said Saturday.

“I don’t know,” general manager Brandon Gomes said. “That’s a better question for Tuck.”

“It could be a little bit of variance,” hitting coach Aaron Bates said.

“It’s one of those things that — it’s baseball,” fellow hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said. “There’s not really a clear explanation of it.”

Dodger Stadium is a favorable ballpark for hitters this season, particularly for home runs, according to Statcast’s Park Factors. Tucker has two at home this season. In 40 plate appearances as a visitor at Dodger Stadium with the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs, Tucker went 10-for-33 (.303) with a pair of home runs and four doubles. It’s not as if he hasn’t hit well at the ballpark before, even in a small sample.

While there is new signage above the batter’s eye this season to mark the Dodgers’ new naming-rights deal, both hitting coaches and Gomes quickly disputed any issues with Tucker (or any hitter) picking up the baseball at Dodger Stadium.

“As far as him seeing the ball, something like that, there’s nothing like that going on,” Bates said.

“That’s not it,” Gomes said. “Talking to our hitting guys, you would know if there was something with the batter’s eye.”

Roberts said Tucker himself wasn’t even aware of the extreme splits until recently. The downswing at home has tanked his line in his disappointing first season in Los Angeles, where the highest-paid player by average annual value has essentially produced like a league-average hitter (98 wRC+), tied for 106th among qualified major-league hitters in that mark.

Sitting Tucker against Brewers phenom and Cy Young front-runner Jacob Misiorowski resulted from some of the frustration Tucker has shown in recent days since returning home, Roberts said. That included Thursday night, when he struck out in his first at-bat against Shane Drohan and fired his bat into the dirt in front of him.

“(When) it’s the first at-bat of a game, and you’re really showing emotion, that’s a tell from a guy who doesn’t show a lot of emotion,” Roberts said. “So those things, as they build up, for me, that tells me that you need a little (rest), you need to watch a baseball game and kind of take some of that frustration, and put it to the side.”

Roberts said Tucker will be back in the lineup Sunday, the final game of the Dodgers’ seven-game homestand, as well as all three games at Coors Field. Roberts and the organization are waiting for Tucker to find any traction. Maybe a three-game stint on the road will be a chance to reconfigure things.

Much like everything else involving Tucker this season, the Dodgers are searching for answers.

“He just hasn’t caught that long hot streak,” Van Scoyoc said. “You’ve seen it, maybe, for a series, or for a couple of games, but not for an extended period like he’s capable of.”

Which is hard to do when he hasn’t been able to figure out the ballpark in which he plays half his games.

— Eno Sarris contributed to this report

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Behind the scenes, the Minnesota Vikings are excited. They prioritized their run game this offseason. And those changes, more extensive than any other since head coach Kevin O’Connell arrived, have already produced noise in practice.

They entered Saturday’s preseason game wanting to further establish a tone. That’s why left tackle Christian Darrisaw played in Saturday’s preseason game at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants. That’s why the team’s first offensive snap featured heavy personnel and a handoff to running back Aaron Jones.

“That’s what (Kevin O’Connell) wanted to see,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. “Guys come off the ball, get the run game going.”

This focus prevented Murray from airing it out in his first action with the Vikings. It did, though, clarify the direction, which took a step forward last week when the Vikings named Murray as their starter.
The run game is a good place to start when evaluating the Vikings’ quarterbacks.

Murray’s command at the line of scrimmage warrants mention as part of a complete breakdown, including insights on how J.J. McCarthy performed.

We’ll be back Monday with a more detailed roster breakdown after reviewing the tape from Saturday’s game.

Kyler Murray’s Vikings debut

More than anything else, the Vikings wanted their starting offense to operate smoothly. No penalties. No miscommunications at the line of scrimmage. Minnesota wanted a professional operation, and that’s what they got.

Murray took nine snaps. The Vikings ran the football on six of them. Their rushing success matters because it was a priority in training camp, but so does one element of the play calls.

Even on Saturday, Murray checked into particular runs. His orchestration was subtle. But rewinding many of the rushes that resulted in effective cutbacks, Murray had begun the process with taps to his helmet, confirming a play call or signaling a run direction.

“Kyler’s done a great job from an above-the-neck standpoint being able to handle it,” O’Connell said. “That was really our first time off the play clock, working the sideline-to-quarterback communication with his command of the huddle. There were a lot of positive things that we saw out of that first group.”

The pre-snap control warrants attention given its importance within the Vikings’ offense. O’Connell’s plays often contain two separate options, equipping the quarterback with latitude to put the offense in the best situation. This taxes the mind. Last year, veteran center Ryan Kelly helped the Vikings maneuver in and out of calls, predicated on his vision. New center Blake Brandel’s inexperience adds more responsibility to Murray’s shoulders.

From a passing perspective, the Vikings unsurprisingly leaned on their creative downfield concepts. Murray completed two attempts. The first came on a play-action connection with fullback Max Bredeson in the flat route from under center. The second came on a shotgun dropback toward the sideline to receiver Jordan Addison.

O’Connell gave Murray one more throwing opportunity on a possible drive-extending play. Murray correctly scanned from right to left. Giants defenders blanketed multiple receivers, so Murray progressed to running back Aaron Jones, pivoting back in Murray’s direction on a comeback route.

Murray tried to lead Jones away from two defenders. Jones sat idle. The pass grazed Jones’s hand and forced a Will Reichard field goal.

“I saw it one way, and he saw it another way,” Murray said. “But I know we’ll make that play. And that’s the stuff you can’t replicate. In practice, it’s overlooked. Here, we’re walking off the field frustrated that we didn’t put the ball in the end zone.”

This sequence showcases the Vikings’ other priority on Saturday. They wanted to iron out any potential hiccups ahead of what they believe will be competitive joint practices this week in Eagan, Minn., with the Baltimore Ravens.

The more mess-ups they can rectify now, the faster they can start Week 1 versus the Green Bay Packers.

Until then, teammates like Byron Murphy Jr., who played with Murray in Arizona, said they’re enjoying his acclimation.

“When we came out of the tunnel,” Murphy said, “I was looking at K1. I’m just, like, ‘Man, this is a good feeling.’ To see him in the same uniform was a blessing.”

J.J. McCarthy’s opportunity

NFL teams tend to play simplified schemes in the preseason. This can complicate player evaluation. However, every snap carries meaning for a player as young and unproven as McCarthy.

Experiencing pressure in the pocket should only help his calmness. Visualizing coverages should only speed up his on-field awareness. The Vikings entered training camp with hope they’d see growth from their former first-rounder. Although O’Connell has talked positively about McCarthy’s development, many of the themes that torpedoed the 2025 season were on display Saturday.

McCarthy’s first play featured a mistimed exchange between him and receiver Jeshaun Jones that should have been a jet sweep. Two snaps later, McCarthy sailed an out route to Jones.

The 23-year-old responded from his first series. He found second-year receiver Myles Price over the middle. He lofted a ball down the right sideline that second-year receiver Tai Felton nearly caught through traffic.

YEAAAAAAAH JUG! 🤣@JJettas2 @myles_price3

📺: #MINvsNYG @FOX9 pic.twitter.com/ZpA4j64Wh8

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 15, 2026

“I think I just liked the familiarity in the system,” McCarthy said. “Seeing everything clearly. Just going out there and operating with the guys. It was a lot of fun playing football again.”

Next Gen Stats recorded four quarterback pressures on McCarthy in his 14 snaps. Once, Giants linebacker Jack Kelly blasted into Vikings running back Zavier Scott, who landed in McCarthy’s lap. McCarthy ping-ponged into a group of bodies and ultimately was tackled for a sack.

McCarthy finished 4-for-7 passing with 34 yards. He played three series and exited at the end of the first half, as planned.

Carson Wentz’s finish

The Vikings planned to provide both Wentz and Brosmer a quarter in the second half. Because of an injured thumb, Brosmer only played three snaps, forcing Wentz into more chances with the third-team unit.

He made the most of them. Wentz feathered a perfect fade ball to Price for the game-winning touchdown. He also kept a young group of offensive players engaged and prepared. As a byproduct of the circumstances, Wentz received 28 snaps, the most of any of the Vikings’ quarterbacks.

His 9-for-14 day for 81 yards exemplifies why the Vikings paid him $3 million for the 2026 season. Above all else, his composure allowed the Vikings’ offense to proceed as it normally would, which was the effect he offered last fall.