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Two brutal first-quarter hits on Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart led to a pair of fights between his New York teammates and the New England Patriots on Monday night in Foxborough.
Dart was only recently cleared to return to action after suffering a concussion in the November 9 loss to the Chicago Bears, so it was a tremendous surprise to see the first-year passer from Ole Miss expose himself to any punishment at Gillette Stadium.
First it was Patriots linebacker Harold Landry's turn to level Dart, who tried and failed to elude New England's pass rush on New York's opening drive. With the pocket collapsing around him, Dart moved forward with an eye towards the right sideline, only to be flattened with a near helmet-to-helmet shot from Landry.
Furious Giants right guard Greg Van Roten grabbed Landry by the collar and a brief skirmish ensued before players returned to their respective huddles without a penalty flag being thrown.
'This is what everybody's worried about on the Giants sideline,' ESPN announcer Troy Aikman told his play-by-play partner, Joe Buck.
Things only got worse on the next drive when Dart scrambled down the right sideline only to be obliterated by shoulder from Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss, who quickly found himself in a shoving match with Giants tight end Theo Johnson.
Jaxson Dart took several hard hits in the first quarter of Monday's game in New England
Jaxson Dart was leveled along the sideline by the Patriots' Christian Elliss on Monday
Dart is pictured before Monday's game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough
'We're gonna get a fight,' Buck said as Patriots defenders became entangled with Giants players along the New York sideline.
Somehow the brawl was calmed after only a few moments, but not until after Johnson earned himself a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty that effectively killed New York's second drive of the game.
Remarkably, Dart appeared to be fine after the hits, both of which appeared to be legal.
'Tell you what, Joe, these teams are going at it, but it looked to me like a legal hit,' Aikman said. 'And it’s just Dart trying to get a little bit extra. He has to protect himself. And he’s a target.'
The call wasn't challenged, but ESPN's review of the hit revealed Dart had two feet in bounds, making the hit perfectly legal.
Despite the punishment he endured, Dart still finished New York’s third drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton.
