On Sunday, the New York Giants will take on the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium.
Earlier today, reports surfaced that the Giants were planning to make a change at the quarterback position, starting J.J. McCarthy instead of veteran Jameis Winston.
Now, after Wednesday’s practice concluded, head coach John Harbaugh has confirmed those reports and sent a clear message on the status of McCarthy.
New York Giants Head Coach Sends Clear J.J. McCarthy Message
After announcing that the New York Giants would start J.J. McCarthy against the Houston Texans, head coach John Harbaugh said of the change, “I thought Jameis has done a tremendous job, won us games, played well. As we go forward here, this is going to be our direction. We think it gives us some good options on offense.”
John Harbaugh talks about the Giants’ quarterback change from Jameis Winston to J.J. McCarthy:
Regarding McCarthy’s role moving forward, Harbaugh said, “Life is day-to-day, minute-to-minute. There’s really no guarantees. I would never say that anything is permanent in football or life. That’s the plan going forward.”
Meanwhile, when asked about McCarthy’s knowledge of the playbook, the Giants head coach said, “He’s got the gameplan down. I think he had it down last week pretty fully, even more so this week.”
Against the Saints in Week 6, McCarthy produced the best stretch of NFL football of his career. He threw for 243 passing yards in the fourth quarter, which tied a franchise record, and nearly brought the Giants all the way back as they managed to score 17 fourth-quarter points before turning the ball over on downs with limited time remaining on the clock.
Decision to Start J.J. McCarthy
Regarding the decision to start McCarthy instead of Jameis Winston, Giants on SI’s Patricia Traina wrote: “The decision between McCarthy, whom the Giants acquired in a trade less than a month ago , and Jameis Winston, who has driven the offense since starter Jaxson Dart went down with a season-ending knee injury seven snaps into the team’s Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Rams, doesn’t really come as much of a surprise.
McCarthy is more of a mobile quarterback who, unlike Winston, can run the RPO game and hence give the Giants’ sagging rushing offense, which has averaged just 3.8 yards per carry, another player for whom the defense now must account.
Last week, Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy praised McCarthy as being “A+” in his grasp of the Giants offense. The former Vikings draft pick showed some moxie for the Giants when he entered the game with a little more than 11 minutes remaining.”
Aside from his impressive passing performance, McCarthy led the Giants in rushing yards. McCarthy made his Giants debut in Week 5 against the Commanders, with limited success, but it was clear New York was searching for a spark for its running game.
After being named the starter, J.J. McCarthy said, “Honored to be here in front of you guys, honored to be the quarterback for the New York Football Giants and be able to get an opportunity this weekend against a great Houston Texans team.”
Giants HC John Harbaugh Sends Clear Message on J.J. McCarthy Before Texans Game