The Jaxson Dart intangible that has Broncos’ attention ahead of Week 7

DENVER — Here is one assessment from a key member of the Broncos defense that Jaxson Dart believes is right on the money.

When taking a look at Dart for the first time as an NFL opponent, Pat Surtain II — widely acknowledged as the best cornerback in the league — offered all sorts of praise and one particularly interesting observation.

“The team is rallying behind him,’’ Surtain said. “He is very confident. It seems like he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder. You can just see the poise and intangibles. He can make every throw across the field. A very underrated part of his game is his scrambling ability and his ability to create second-chance opportunities for his offense on his feet.

“I think he will be a great player for sure in this league.”

The poise and the running and the throwing were out there for all to see in Dart’s first three starts, with No. 4 coming Sunday at Mile High, where the Broncos have won seven consecutive home games dating back to last season. That Surtain would point out a particular intangible trait he sees in Dart is worth exploring.

Why would Dart have a chip on his shoulder? He was a star in high school, eventually a huge prospect entering college, a big man on campus at Ole Miss and a first-round draft pick. Sure, there were some doubters, but it is not as if Dart is some underdog or some unknown or someone that came out of nowhere. He was the second quarterback taken in the 2025 draft, and there is nothing wrong with that. And, after an impressive spring and summer, it took only until Week 4 for the Giants to name him their starter, which is quite a quick ascension.

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Dart does not see any of this that way.

“First of all, things happened really late for me in high school,’’ Dart told The Post. “I didn’t have a college offer until week four or five of my senior year in high school, and it wasn’t even a full ride scholarship. I feel like everything I’ve done I’ve had to fight kind of a narrative, just been kind of weird.

“Especially in college, you can go back to the bowl game after my final season and people were saying I was going to be a fourth-round player. There’s been a lot of noise, but the chip comes from me. I want to be the best, and my parents raised me to play as hard as I can every time I leave the field and leave it with no regrets.

“So I definitely play with a chip. It’s always just in me, I don’t think that’s ever going to change. That was one thing when I came in here people maybe didn’t understand my mentality of how I approach things every day. The intensity I try to play with and lead with. That’s not something I’m ever going to let myself let up on.’’

There will be no Malik Nabers (out for the remainder of the season), and Dart will once again need unheralded receivers to make something happen, with Darius Slayton (doubtful with a strained hamstring) set to miss a second straight game. The Broncos lead the league with 30 sacks, and Dart is going to have to protect the ball when the swarm arrives.

On defense, the Giants hope to replicate what the Jets did last week in London, keeping second-year quarterback Bo Nix and his targets (Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin) under wraps, along with running back J.K. Dobbins. The Broncos managed to get just one touchdown and two field goals in their narrow 13-11 victory.

Dart is 2-0 as a starter at MetLife Stadium and 0-1 on the road, losing in Week 5 to the Saints, 26-14, almost exclusively because the Giants sloppily left five turnovers on the field in New Orleans. The Giants have moved on, but in some ways Dart cannot get over his lone loss.

“Obviously, we should have won the three in a row,’’ he said. “That’s something that I look back on and if we don’t have [the five turnovers] — we could have won that game.’’

There is a lesson to be learned that Dart hopes to take into this difficult road assignment.

“You’ve got to be able to weather the storm,’’ he said. “Not everything’s going to be perfect. There’s going to be mistakes. There’s going to be momentum shifts throughout every game.’’