NFL Catchup: Giants Keeping QB Options Open; Bears Still Unsure On Week 3 Starter

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The New York Giants are adding a quarterback after Jaxson Dart was lost for the season with a left knee injury, head coach John Harbaugh confirmed Wednesday.

Tests showed Dart avoided ACL damage, but tears to his MCL, PCL and meniscus will require surgery, with the meniscus the biggest concern. The injury occurred in the first quarter of the Giants Week 2 road loss to the Rams. Dart was injured on a play that left Giants receivers and tight ends confused on multiple pre-snap alignments against the Rams. The injury is similar to the one that cost Vikings quarterback J.J.

McCarthy his entire 2024 season. McCarthy, now buried on Minnesota depth chart behind Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz, has reportedly drawn interest as a trade value given Giants GM Joe Schoen familiarity with him from the 2024 draft process. Jameis Winston will run the offense in Week 3 against the Titans, but Harbaugh confirmed the team plans to add another arm to the room, even if he would not name candidates.

Winston brings experience but has not held a full-time starting job since 2019, and Jake Haener is the only other quarterback New York controls, sitting on the practice squad. Haener is knocking on the Giants door one month after questioning his NFL career. Harbaugh did not close the door on Dart returning for a potential postseason run. For that to happen, Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo have to pick up Dart slack.

Skattebo said, It sucks. But the bright side is we have a long future ahead of us and with Malik being in Year 3, I am in Year 2, Jaxson in Year 2. We have a lot of football ahead of us. Since Dart was drafted, the Giants have run 1,277 offensive plays.

Dart and Nabers have shared the field for just 74, and the triplets of Dart, Nabers and Skattebo have played just 43 together. Dart did not start the first three games of his rookie season, Nabers suffered a season-ending torn ACL early in Week 4, and Skattebo suffered a season-ending open tibia fracture in Week 8. Nabers said, Takes a breath out of you, for sure. Just trying to be there for him like he was there for me.

It is sad to say: You cannot predict injuries. So, it is a shame that it happens, but you go through it. An X-ray on Nabers shoulder, injured Monday night against the Rams when he crashed to the turf trying to make a catch and was held to one catch for one yard, returned good results. Nabers said, Feeling good.

I will be fine. We are smiling. I am out there playing, catching the ball. Except Nabers is catching passes from Jameis Winston.

And stuck on zero of his nine career touchdown catches from Dart, who has thrown zero of his 18 career touchdown passes to Nabers. Nabers said, It is time and preparation for everything. I have not shared the field with him that much, even in practice. Going through a whole spring camp with him, that builds chemistry.

So, it is just sad that one of your brothers goes down. I know how much he wanted to accomplish, he knows how much I wanted to accomplish and just to see it put on pause, I feel for him. Nabers already has played with seven different quarterbacks since he was drafted in 2024. But Winston is a unique gunslinger known for throwing into tight windows and giving his receivers shots to win downfield 50/50 balls without fear of interceptions.

Nabers said, He believes in his receivers to go make plays for him. And we plan to do that. The fact that he gives us opportunity means he believes in the good work you put in, in practice. Nabers is cluing in to how Winston ball placement, spin and release point work.

He added, We just have to do a better job of just studying, myself included. Putting in extra time, putting in extra work, writing the plays up, seeing how you can understand the plays in your own way. The Chicago Bears still do not know whether Case Keenum, Tyson Bagent or Caleb Williams will start Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Keenum, 38, practiced Wednesday and has not played in a regular-season game since December 2023, but he is healthy, which is more than can currently be said for the other two. He said he is nervous about possibly starting, but he welcomes the emotions. Keenum said, I love the feeling of being nervous. I do get nervous.

And it is not a scared nervous, it is an excited nervous, because I know I am prepared. I am confident in my preparation and what I have done. I am confident in my teammates. I am confident in their preparation.

I am confident in the game plan and what my coaches have put together. Williams is still working back from the hamstring injury that knocked him out of Sunday loss to Minnesota, and while he has not been ruled out, caution is expected given how much his mobility factors into his game.

Bagent, who went 5 of 9 for 54 yards in relief before getting sacked on the final play, was unexpectedly placed in concussion protocol Tuesday with no clear return timeline. Coach Ben Johnson said the team has no plans to bring in another quarterback this week, framing the uncertainty as an opportunity for whoever ends up under center. Tua Tagovailoa is good to go for Atlanta trip to Green Bay, and he will be doing so as the backup.

Falcons final injury report of the week, and head coach Kevin Stefanski indicated earlier Wednesday that Tagovailoa was trending toward serving behind Michael Penix Jr. for Thursday Night Football. Tagovailoa was actually slated to start the season opener before an oblique injury suffered during practice week sidelined him, with Cooper Rush filling in for the first two games while Penix worked back from reconstructive knee surgery.

Wednesday brought some clarity at quarterback in one building and plenty of uncertainty in others, as teams across the league finalized their injury reports ahead of Week 3. The Atlanta Falcons got good news heading into their Thursday night matchup against the Green Bay Packers, while two other franchises are still sorting out who will actually take the snaps this weekend.

Compiled from 3 sourcesCompiled by HeadTopics editors by cross-checking the verified news reports listed here.

This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.

Giants Bears Falcons Quarterback Jaxson Dart Injury New York Giants Quarterback Chicago Bears Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa Backup NFL Week 3

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