Cam Skattebo, new Giants teammates loving J.J. McCarthy

The fact that McCarthy has caught on with his teammates so quickly isn’t terribly surprising. Despite falling from starter last year for the Vikings to third-string QB to start this season, McCarthy was still showing how good of a teammate he is during the team’s 3-0 start to the season.

“I think he’s a good kid, and I’m happy to have anyone that’s my teammate,” Giants current starting QB Jameis Winston said when discussing his early impressions of McCarthy. “Obviously, we share we won the national championship. We share (that) he got coached by a Harbaugh. I’m getting coached by a Harbaugh right now. We share that – those similarities. But he’s curious. He wants to be great. I think anybody that gets the opportunity to come to a new organization with a fresh start wants to make an impact.”

As for his new coaches, McCarthy has made strong early impressions with John Harbaugh and his offensive coaching staff.

“He’s done well since he’s been here,” said Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. “I think that really the last 48 hours that he’s been here, just like most guys are going to come in here and grind and then dig into it. And it’s crazy because you’re basically taking all of OTAs, just trying to learn the foundation, which guys have done in five or six months, and now taking that into two days. So, he’s done a great job with it. We’re impressed, it’s impressive. But at the same point in time, too, we also understand that it can be a lot, so there’s a little bit of a balance.”

Nagy admitted that McCarthy was taller than he was expecting, adding that the former Vikings QB is “a natural thrower” with “some good accuracy.” He added that he received “a lot of good reviews” when talking with people about McCarthy before New York and Minnesota finalized the trade on Monday.

“It’s been good to get him here,” Harbaugh said on Wednesday. “It’s an opportunity for us to improve our team, one little way maybe. And who knows where it goes or where it doesn’t go. I mean, he had a really good practice. Seems like he picked things up we asked him to pick up really well. Was in here late, early. Studying, learning. Has a really good football foundation, all that kind of stuff. And that’s exciting. It’s another good football player at an important position.”

While McCarthy is not likely to feature for the Giants in the short-term, he’s clearly got himself off on the right foot with his new organization.