John Harbaugh tackled Malik Nabers to show WR he was ready to get hit, per Jaxson Dart
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The New York Giants collected their first win of the 2026 NFL season on Sunday night, knocking off their longtime NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys 28-20 under the lights at MetLife Stadium.
Second-year quarterback and former Ole Miss standout Jaxson Dart led the G-men to victory, throwing for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns, and linking up with star wideout Malik Nabers 6 times for 69 yards.
This was only the second time Nabers and Dart shared an NFL field, as the ex-LSU wide receiver missed most of the 2025 campaign with a season-ending knee injury he suffered during Dart’s NFL debut. Dart touched on what it was like to have Nabers back after such a long layoff during his postgame press conference, and he recounted a story from earlier in the week where head coach John Harbaugh actually tackled the star pass catcher to show him he was ready to get hit in-game.
“We were all just chilling on the sideline right before we were supposed to start our walkthrough,” Dart said. “Things were just up in the air (with Nabers playing), and we didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. Me and coach Harbaugh were kind of having some conversations, and he was like, ‘You know what? I think that once he (Nabers) gets hit for the first time and realizes that he’s okay, then he’s going to feel confident.’ So, I think that in his mind, that triggered ‘Oh, maybe I should tackle him’ right then and there… All of a sudden, Malik goes down on the ground, and it’s Coach Harbaugh tackling Malik, and then Malik pops up, and he goes, ‘See? You’re all good.'”
Harbaugh has long been known as the quintessential player’s coach, and this story from Dart further illustrates why he has earned that reputation over his long career.
If he can continue building Nabers’ confidence over the course of the season, then the Giants could end up making some serious noise in the NFC come playoff time.
