The New York Giants entered Monday facing another major adjustment to a season that has already tested the team’s depth, and they responded by making one of their biggest moves yet.
With Jaxson Dart already lost for the season, the Giants acquired former Michigan star and Minnesota Vikings first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, adding another talented young quarterback to a room that has undergone significant changes in just a matter of weeks.
Head coach John Harbaugh said the organization had been discussing the need to add another quarterback almost immediately after Dart’s injury. “We’ve been talking about it ever since I think Jaxson got hurt, that we would need to add a quarterback, quarterbacks,” Harbaugh said. “That’s part of the process.
We’ve been turning over every stone.” The opportunity to acquire McCarthy eventually presented itself, and the Giants moved quickly to complete the deal Monday morning. Harbaugh said the organization is “really glad, really happy, very excited” to add McCarthy and believes the young quarterback can make the team stronger.
McCarthy brings a unique combination of experience and potential to New York. He was a highly regarded prospect coming out of Michigan after leading the Wolverines to an undefeated season and a national championship, and he entered the NFL as a top-10 selection.
Harbaugh was familiar with McCarthy well before Monday’s trade, having closely followed Michigan during his brother Jim Harbaugh’s tenure as the Wolverines’ head coach. John Harbaugh said his brother always had positive things to say about McCarthy, but his own evaluation went beyond those conversations.
“I did spend some time looking at him last week, along with a few other guys, and I came away impressed,” Harbaugh said. “Our scouts had already done the work, and I saw their reports, and I would have to concur with their reports based on what I saw. He can throw it. He can run it. He can make plays.”
That ability to make plays with both his arm and his legs was part of what made McCarthy attractive to the Giants, particularly after losing Dart. Harbaugh pointed to McCarthy’s talent and his experience at both the college and professional levels as important factors in the decision.
He also acknowledged that McCarthy’s availability was a result of the circumstances in Minnesota. “I know he didn’t hold on to that job in Minnesota, and that’s why he’s available,” Harbaugh said. “If he had, we wouldn’t be talking or having this conversation right now.”
The biggest question surrounding the move is what it means for Jameis Winston, but Harbaugh made it clear that there is no change at the top of the depth chart heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. Winston remains the Giants’ starting quarterback, and Harbaugh was emphatic that the veteran will get the start this week.
Winston took over following Dart’s injury and helped the Giants defeat Tennessee on Sunday, giving the team a much-needed victory as it tries to navigate the loss of its young quarterback.
“Jameis is starting,” Harbaugh said. “He’s our starting quarterback and that’s why we’re rolling.” Harbaugh added that the Giants are excited about Winston and believe he did what was necessary to help them win Sunday. The arrival of McCarthy, however, does not mean the Giants are making a long-term decision about the position right now. Harbaugh repeatedly brought the conversation back to the immediate task at hand: preparing for Arizona.
“Our design is to win the next game. Our design is to be 1-0 next week,” Harbaugh said. “What I do know is that we’re going to be playing the Cardinals in six days.” For now, Winston will be the starter, while the Giants will determine during the week whether McCarthy or Jake Haener will serve as the backup.
Harbaugh said the answer could depend on how quickly McCarthy absorbs the offense and becomes comfortable with the team’s terminology and protections.
That process will require plenty of work. McCarthy is joining the Giants in the middle of the season and doesn’t have the luxury of going through an entire offseason program with the organization.
Harbaugh said the team will take a crash-course approach, with additional work designed to get McCarthy comfortable enough to potentially contribute if needed. There is, however, some familiarity between what McCarthy experienced in Minnesota and what the Giants are asking their quarterbacks to do.
“We know their offense a little bit. We know how that system is built,” Harbaugh said. “So our coaches have a pretty good idea on how he’s going to be seeing the game.”
Harbaugh explained that the Giants will focus on determining what terminology and concepts carry over from Minnesota and what will be completely new to McCarthy, particularly when it comes to protections and how the quarterback handles adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
While the quarterback situation dominated the beginning of Monday’s press conference, another development could have an even greater impact on the Giants moving forward.
Brian Burns is done for the season.
Harbaugh confirmed that the veteran pass rusher suffered an ACL tear and will undergo surgery, giving the Giants another devastating loss just one week after Dart’s season-ending injury. Burns has been much more than a productive defensive player since arriving in New York. Harbaugh described him as one of the leaders of the defense, a veteran presence and a player who consistently sets the tone through his preparation and work ethic.
“Not just a great player, which he is,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, in many ways the leader of the defense, I would say, just as a veteran leader and star player, also a worker, out front kind of guy in everything he does.”
The injury itself was the type of play that can change a season in an instant. Burns was turning the corner when he planted his foot and was hit from the side at nearly the same time. Harbaugh described it as a freak injury and said his thoughts were with Burns as much as they were with the team.
“My heart breaks for him that way,” Harbaugh said.
Now the Giants have to figure out how to replace one of the most important pieces of their defense. Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter are expected to take on an even larger role, although Harbaugh stressed that both players have already been playing significant snaps. Thibodeaux has been a player Harbaugh has consistently praised since the offseason, while Carter has quickly become an important part of the team’s defensive front.
The bigger concern for the Giants is what happens to the pass rush as a whole. Harbaugh believes the defense has been strong against the run for much of the season, although he acknowledged some recent issues. The pass rush, however, has not produced the kind of consistent pressure the Giants need. Aside from Carter’s sack in Week 2, the team has struggled to bring opposing quarterbacks to the ground.
Opposing offenses have been doing everything possible to neutralize the Giants’ front, including getting the ball out quickly and using chips to slow down the pass rush. Harbaugh said the Giants have to find answers.
“They’re doing a lot of things to offset our pass rush,” Harbaugh said. “But they’re having a little too much success offsetting it right now. So, we’ve got to keep finding ways to get the quarterback on the ground.”
That will now become even more important without Burns in the lineup. Thibodeaux and Carter will have to shoulder more responsibility, while the rest of the defensive front will need to find ways to create pressure collectively.
For Harbaugh, though, the answer isn’t going to come from dwelling on the losses. The Giants have already experienced the shock of losing their quarterback and now their defensive leader. The only option is to adjust and move forward.
“You kind of grow over the wound,” Harbaugh said. “You heal the wound, you grow over it, you scar up, and you move on.”
That mentality now applies to nearly every part of the Giants’ season. Dart is gone. Burns is gone. McCarthy is arriving. Winston is the starter. Thibodeaux and Carter are being asked to take on more responsibility, and the coaching staff has another week to find answers.
Harbaugh knows the Giants can’t solve every problem in one afternoon, and he isn’t interested in trying to predict what the quarterback room will look like weeks or months from now. The focus is much narrower.
Sunday.
Arizona.
One game.
One opportunity to move forward.
“Jameis will be the starter, for sure,” Harbaugh said. “And he’s going to play a winning football game. I know that. I have complete confidence that Jameis is going to play a great football game on Sunday. And that our guys are going to play great around him.”
For a Giants team that has already been forced to adjust to more adversity than it expected through three weeks, that’s the message coming out of Monday: adapt, prepare and move forward.
The season isn’t waiting for them.
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