Giants QB J.J. McCarthy Replaces Jameis Winston

An increase in the ‘McCarthy package’ was planned leading up to Week 6, as noted by ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. Harbaugh made the expected move of promoting McCarthy to backup quarterback, leaving Jake Haener to dress as the Giants’ emergency third-string duties. Jameis Winston retained the starting role, but Harbaugh left the door open a larger workload in McCarthy’s case given his different skillset.

“The benefits of it? It’s a change of pace,” he said (via team transcript) when speaking about the possibility of using McCarthy under center. “Whether or not he’s out there or not will be determined based on whatever happens. But we’ll see if it’s something that can help us… We’re always going to be searching for opportunities to use our players, give them an opportunity to help us win games.”

Winston and the Giants struggled on offense for much of their Week 6 matchup with the Saints. The veteran completed just 14 of 26 pass attempts for 152 yards and one touchdown. Winston was intercepted once and sacked four times, and that resulted in a switch to McCarthy during the fourth quarter. The Giants found themselves trailing 34-10 at the time.

Things changed in a hurry with the former Vikings draftee guiding the offense. McCarthy was also picked off, but he racked up 243 passing yards and a touchdown when on the field. He helped bring the Giants within one score of tying the game and drove New York as deep as New Orleans’ 14 yard line on the team’s final possession. That drive came up short, but McCarthy’s production – which included 26 rushing yards – could lead to questions about the Giants’ QB1 situation moving forward.

After the game, Harbaugh unsurprisingly said (video link via Raanan) no decision has been made yet for Week 7. Given today’s loss, the Giants are now 3-2-1 on the year. That record is good enough to keep them in contention within the NFC East, but it will be interesting to see how the QB spot will be handled.