Russell Wilson will remain the Giants' starting QB going into Week 2

Russell Wilson will start at quarterback for the New York Giants in their second game of the season Sunday at Dallas, coach Brian Daboll said, keeping the veteran in the role after a lackluster performance in the opener rather than turning to rookie Jaxson Dart.

Daboll made the announcement of Wilson remaining the starter on a video call with reporters Monday less than 24 hours after not committing to the 36-year-old getting the nod again.

“I have confidence in Russ, and we’re doing everything we can each week to develop Jaxson,” Daboll said.

Wilson was 17 of 37 for 168 yards in a 21-6 loss to Washington. The Giants did not score a touchdown in Week 1 for a third consecutive year.

“I’d say he made good decisions,” Daboll said. “The 1-on-1 matchups: sometimes it’s a throw, sometimes it’s a contested catch. It’s a collective (effort). It’s not just Russ. It’s the entire offense — everybody. It starts with me, coaches, players. We’ve got to do a better job collectively. ”

Dart, a first-round pick whom the organization hopes is the future at the position, dressed as Wilson's backup ahead of Jameis Winston but is still awaiting making his NFL debut.

Receiver Darius Slayton said he and his teammates have full confidence in Wilson and disagrees with the outside noise calling for Dart to play.

“That’s the natural thing these days in the sport of football, which is unfortunate at all levels of football — even at the college level, the pro level — is that everybody wants new, as soon as they think that things aren’t going well,” Slayton said.

“This league is tough, and you see players get chewed up and spit out all the time by this league, which is something that I would never want to happen to him. ... (Wilson is) going to play good ball, we’re going to play good ball as an offense and whenever Jaxson’s time comes, it comes.”

The pass rush that is supposed to be the Giants' strength was effective. Brian Burns had two of the three sacks on Jayden Daniels, while fellow edge rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter split the other.

One game in to adding Carter, the third pick in the draft, he was not on the field at the same time as Burns and Thibodeaux. Carter also got a handful of snaps on special teams, making a difference there by deflecting a punt.

“You want to rotate those guys, try to keep them as fresh as you can,” Daboll said. “We knew that Abdul was going to be on that punt team. Just trying to keep those guys as fresh as we can with the packages that we have.”

Even with that, New York allowed the Commanders to pile up 432 yards, with 220 of them coming on the ground. Daniels was responsible for much of that, and rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt rushed for 82 yards on 10 carries.

“Just a defense, when you’re not playing as well as you want to, it can definitely be frustrating,” cornerback Paulson Adebo said. “But that’s all those things that we’ll look at and improve.”

Adebo made a strong first impression after the Giants signed him to lock down opposing receivers. Rather than play just one side, Adebo followed Terry McLaurin, who had just two catches on four targets for 27 yards.

“I thought he played well,” Daboll said. “Terry’s a really good player, an explosive offense, but that’s something we’ve been working on, as well. I thought he did a nice job throughout the entire game.”

Evan Neal's fall from being the seventh pick in the 2022 draft as an offensive tackle took another drop. After getting moved inside and going into training camp competing for the starting right guard job with Greg Van Roten, Neal was inactive against Washington. Daboll said the staff felt comfortable with the other linemen in uniform.

Daboll said linebacker Micah McFadden, who was carted off the field midway through the first quarter, did not break his right leg after that was the initial concern. Daboll foreshadowed having more information later this week on McFadden's status.

1 — Other teams in NFL history before the Giants who didn't score a touchdown in the season opener three years in a row: the Detroit Lions from 1940-42. Green Bay from 2005-07 and the Chicago Cardinals from 1954-56 also failed to score one on offense, but their defense got into the end zone.

The Giants opened as 6-point underdogs for their game at the Cowboys on BetMGM Sportsbook. Dallas has some extra rest time coming off losing 24-20 at reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia on Thursday night.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll speaking to members of the media after the end of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Landover, Md. Commanders won 21-6. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Walking off the field at the end of an NFL football game are from l-r., New York Giants guard Greg Van Roten (74), quarterback Russell Wilson (3), cornerback Paulson Adebo (21) and safety Jevon Holland (8), Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Landover, Md. Commanders won 21-6. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson (3) looks up at the scoreboard during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson (3) passes the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson (3) on the field near the end of the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Landover, Md. Commanders won 21-6. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drone strikes killed at least two people in the Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight into Saturday, local authorities reported, ahead of a proposed ceasefire for Orthodox Easter.

A further two people were wounded in the attack on the Black Sea port city, when drones hit a residential area, damaging apartment buildings, houses and a kindergarten.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia targeted Ukraine with 160 drones overnight, of which 133 were shot down or intercepted, hours before a proposed Easter ceasefire was due to come into force.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said 99 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight across Russia and occupied Crimea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter weekend, ordering Russian forces to halt hostilities from 4 p.m. Saturday until the end of Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised Saturday to abide by the ceasefire, describing it as an opportunity to build on peace initiatives. But he warned there would be a swift military response to any violations.

“Easter should be a time of silence and safety. A ceasefire (at) Easter could also become the beginning of real movement toward peace,” Zelenskyy wrote in an online post on Saturday.

But he added: “We all understand who we are dealing with. Ukraine will adhere to the ceasefire and respond strictly in kind.”

Ukraine earlier proposed to Russia a pause in attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure over the Orthodox Easter holiday.

Previous ceasefire attempts have had little impact, with both sides accusing each other of violations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday described Putin’s move as a “humanitarian” gesture, but said Moscow remains focused on a comprehensive settlement based on its longstanding demands — a key sticking point that has prevented the two sides from reaching an agreement.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that a prisoner swap Saturday brought home 175 of its soldiers.

Zelenskyy confirmed Saturday’s exchange, saying that 175 service members and seven civilians were returned.

“Most had been held in captivity since 2022. And finally, they are home,” he wrote on X.

At the exchange site in northern Ukraine, Svitlana Pohosyan waited for her son’s return. Asked about the ceasefire, she said: “I want to believe it. God willing, may it be so. We will believe and hope that everything will be fine, that a ceasefire will come on such a holy day, and that there will be peace — peace in Ukraine and peace in the whole world.”

“My celebration will come when my son returns,” she added. “I will hold him in my arms — and that will be the greatest celebration for me. And for every mother, every family."

Periodic prisoner exchanges have been one of the few positive outcomes of otherwise fruitless monthslong U.S.-brokered negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. The talks have delivered no progress on key issues preventing an end to Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, now in its fifth year.

Separately, seven residents of Russia's Kursk region returned from Ukraine Saturday after they were captured by the Ukrainian army, Russian state media reported. They were greeted at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border by Russia's human rights ombudswoman, Tatyana Moskalkova.

According to Moskalkova, the returnees were the last of those who were taken to Ukraine from the Kursk region after the Ukrainian army took control of parts of the region in 2024.

Ukrainian forces made a surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024 in one of their biggest battlefield successes in the war. The incursion was the first time Russian territory was occupied by an invader since World War II and dealt a humiliating blow to the Kremlin.

Zhyhinas reported from northern Ukraine. Morton reported from London.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade press service on April 10, 2026, a Ukrainian serviceman looks at FPV drone takeoff during a training at the polygon in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade press service on April 10, 2026, a Ukrainian serviceman prepares a machine gun on a combat ground drone during a training at the polygon in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade via AP)

A rescue worker walks in front of residential building which was heavily damaged after a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, Monday, April 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)