Two days after throwing a football off the facemask of cornerback Greg Newsome II after a play, New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart said it was just the competitive juices at work.
The New York defense didn’t take kindly to Dart’s actions after he ran for a touchdown during a training camp workout at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Neither did Giants coach John Harbaugh, who assessed a 15-yard penalty for taunting prior to the point-after attempt.
“G-New’s my brother. I mean, brothers compete, brothers get into it, and that’s just part of the competitiveness that we have out here,” Dart told reporters. “It’s a battle each and every day. It’s a battle every single play, and I think that when you’re in those environments, it just gets competitive.
“So, that’s just kind of football, but at the same time you got to respect the fact that you hold each other accountable and you have those conversations, but we’re competing.”
Newsome wasn’t happy in the moment but quickly let the anger dissipate.
“I was mad,” Newsome told reporters Wednesday. “But like I said, I’m a guy that chirps. I like stuff like that. So, we were laughing at lunch about it literally after practice yesterday. So, we were about to post a little selfie because I seen it got on ESPN and stuff. So, it was fun. It was funny. I like the aggression. I like that with my quarterback. So, it’s all good.”
One thing about the play worth noting is that quarterbacks wear red jerseys and are hands-off to defenders. So, it wasn’t like Newsome was about to deliver a big hit.
“I mean, when he gets close to the end zone, he scores. I’m telling him, he’s not going to score,” Newsome said. “So, there’s obviously going to be some back and forth all the time. But like I said, iron sharpens iron. It’s hot outside. It’s day whatever of camp; emotions get high. So, it was fun.”