Jaxson Dart's MCL scare puts Giants right back on the clock, and Jameis Winston is their answer for now
The second-year Giants quarterback left Monday Night Football in the first quarter with a sprained knee, and New York's offense collapsed around Jameis Winston in a 28-6 rout at SoFi Stadium.
In brief
Dart goes down on the opening drive, and the Giants fall apart fast
Five minutes into Monday Night Football in Inglewood, and the New York Giants' season got complicated again. Quarterback Jaxson Dart took a hard shot from Rams defenders Josaiah Stewart and Byron Young on a third-and-8 pass attempt, and when he landed, his left knee bent inward in a way that made the SoFi Stadium crowd go quiet. Dart was hit mid-throw, his left knee bent awkwardly in the air, and he fell to the ground grabbing at it in pain before walking off the field without assistance.
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is believed to have sustained a sprained MCL in the first quarter of Monday's 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport based on initial exams. X-rays were negative, according to sources, and Dart will undergo an MRI on Tuesday. He is expected to miss some time.
The most relieving part, at least for now: it does not appear to be a torn ACL. If Tuesday's MRI confirms that Dart only suffered an MCL sprain, the injury will not be season-ending, and he will have a chance to come back at some point in 2026. The most likely recovery window falls in the two-to-six-week range pending the final MRI grade.
Head coach John Harbaugh was asked about it directly after the game. "We'll know more Tuesday," Harbaugh said. Regarding the reported MCL sprain, he added: "That's in the neighborhood of it. We'll get an MRI Tuesday and have a real good feel for it." General manager Joe Schoen expressed optimism, and early indications suggest Dart should hold on as the 2026 season moves forward.
Dart apparently tried to talk his way back into the game. It didn't work. He eventually returned to the sideline in street clothes after halftime and walked with the team postgame without a notable limp.
Winston steps in. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
Jameis Winston took the snaps from that point forward. The Giants' night did not improve. Winston was set to hold down the fort while Dart recovered, but he completed just 11 of 27 pass attempts for 111 yards and one interception and consistently missed receivers.
Veteran Jameis Winston took over, but the gap in quality was evident as the Giants looked out of sorts. The final score was 28 to 6. That says everything about how the rest of the night went.
The Rams, meanwhile, were sharp. Matthew Stafford registered a passer rating of 131.3, completing 22 of 31 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. Davante Adams logged eight catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns during the win, and Los Angeles did all of that without wide receiver Puka Nacua. It was Adams' 29th career game with multiple receiving touchdowns, tied for fourth most in NFL history.
Stafford also crossed a personal milestone. The Rams quarterback is now sixth on the NFL's all-time career passing touchdowns list, passing Philip Rivers according to ESPN's game coverage from ESPN.
Aaron Donald, returning to action as well, played 32 defensive snaps (58.2 percent of the defensive snaps) and was credited with three tackles, one run stuff and no quarterback pressures. That production line will get scrutinized going forward, but the Rams won the game and that is what matters this week.
The bigger picture: it keeps happening to young quarterbacks
Dart joining the injury list is not an isolated incident. It is the latest entry in a rough stretch for the league's most prominent young signal-callers. Caleb Williams, the 2024 No. 1 overall pick, left a Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a hamstring injury and is being considered week-to-week. Washington's Jayden Daniels, the 2024 No. 2 overall pick, suffered a dislocated elbow in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the same injury that cost him four games in the 2025 regular season. Dart, the 2025 first-round pick out of Ole Miss, is now week-to-week himself.
The Giants at 1-1 are not in crisis. But there is a real gap between what they look like with Dart under center and what they look like without him. The drop-off significantly dims their playoff odds if the MRI comes back worse than the initial read. The week-to-week tag is the best-case scenario right now.
For the Rams, the win gets them to 1-1 after avoiding a possibly disastrous 0-2 start by returning home from a beating in Australia to put a beating on the Giants. The Stafford-Adams combination looks like the engine Sean McVay was counting on.
Tuesday's MRI will tell New York how long it needs Winston to be the starter. The medical staff's findings will establish whether Dart can return quickly to spearhead New York's offense or whether Winston must prepare for an extended stint as the primary starter. The Giants face the Tennessee Titans in Week 3, then the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4 at MetLife. A week of practice with the starters will need to get Winston more in rhythm for the Week 3 matchup against the Titans.
Dart flew back east on the team plane. The MRI appointment is Tuesday morning.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
