The Giants will be using a third different starting quarterback this season when they travel to Houston to take on the Texans on Sunday afternoon after announcing earlier in the week that J.J. McCarthy earned the start over Jameis Winston.
How long of a leash New York will give McCarthy remains to be seen, but it stands to reason the 23-year-old will get a good look for the foreseeable future considering the Giants went out and traded for him four weeks ago following Jaxson Dart’s knee injury – not to mention his fourth-quarter performance against the New Orleans Saints which nearly resulted in a wild comeback in a game that was started by Winston.
So, after four weeks of familiarizing himself with the offense, it appears McCarthy is now ready to lead the Giants.
“We've been working for four weeks now trying to get him to learn this whole offense and not just learn packages, and that's been his biggest challenge,” said offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. “Now here we are, and he gets an opportunity to be in this spot, and so it's our job now as coaches to make sure that we're helping him do what he does best.”
McCarthy’s first start for New York will come in a difficult environment: on the road against a Texans team that has won two straight after an 0-4 start with a defense that can pressure the quarterback, including 18 sacks this season. In fact, defensive end Will Anderson Jr. leads the NFL with 7.5 sacks.
To his credit, McCarthy, like Dart, has the ability to run the ball and may need to show off his legs and evade some defenders on Sunday with the Giants having allowed 18 sacks this season. Of course, most of that has been with Winston under center.
“We're going into an environment where it's going to be loud on the road against a tough defense that likes to play fast, so we've got to keep all that in perspective,” Nagy said. “But at the same point in time, our guys are hungry and ready to go.”
McCarthy’s dual threat at quarterback is something New York will likely utilize in its attempt to optimize the quarterback’s skillset, especially with the running backs struggling to move the ball efficiently at the moment. It even opens the door for more play calls that the Giants initially trained for with Dart that they weren’t equipped to do with Winston.
Regardless of what the game plan is, McCarthy is prepared to execute it just like he did in limited action with little preparation last Sunday which impressed New York. Hopefully with a full week of practice as the starter, it will only help the youngster.
“His operation was really good in that stressful time in that moment,” Nagy said about McCarthy in regards to the fourth quarter. “We were playing a little bit of hurry up. There's a lot of communication that goes on, and there's, quite honestly, even in that moment in some of our no-huddle, end-of-game situational stuff, that he has had zero reps at just because of time and practice.
“So balancing all that, I thought he did that really well, but now we've got to be able to say, hey, listen, this is now a full week of a real game plan, and we cannot make it difficult on him. We've got to make sure we're doing what he does well.”
Having players like wide receiver Malik Nabers and tight end Isaiah Likely as targets all game will surely help in making it easier for McCarthy who threw for 243 yards on 11 completions after entering the game against the Saints.
That kind of stat line may not exactly translate against the Texans, but the Giants are excited, regardless, with how the quarterback looked on the field (and during practice) and the decisions he was making.
“The operation right now, what he's doing is amazing,” Nagy said. “Then you throw in some of the throws that he made, not just when we're 70 yards away, but when we're in that red zone or when we're in a situation where you've got to make a throw. He did that, too. His demeanor has been really good for all four weeks. He's very eager to learn. He wants as much as he can get to digest within our offense.
“It's our job now, what we've been trying to do is just see what can he handle? And now as we go into that this week, it's like, OK, this is what we think he can handle, but how do we get that to a point of being able to do what our guys do well, too, on offense, the players. Because, again, you're going to a guy who, whether you like it or not, just hasn't had reps with these other players on our offense.”