The Giants may have Jameis Winston lined up to start against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but don’t expect the organization to force J.J. McCarthy into action before he’s ready.
First-year offensive coordinator Matt Nagy made it clear on Thursday that the priority right now is getting McCarthy comfortable with everything that comes with the Giants’ offense, not fast-tracking him into a live game situation.
Per Ben Krimmel of SNY, Nagy said the staff is working with McCarthy on the team’s "verbiage" and on learning "what to do and where to go and how to go there."
"It starts with the cadence," Nagy explained. "As simple as that sounds, it sounds easy, doesn’t it?
But it starts there. There’s a rhythm to that.
Then you take the personnels, and you gotta know all the personnels. Then you gotta know all the formations, then the motions, then the shifts.
Then you gotta know the play. Then you gotta know what the defense is doing.
There’s a lot involved. It takes some time."
That approach suggests the Giants are in no rush, even with the idea floating around that head coach John Harbaugh could eventually want to see McCarthy get in-game reps before Week 18 arrives.
For now, McCarthy’s status for Sunday was still uncertain on Thursday. Jake Haener appeared to be in line to serve as the Giants’ primary backup against Arizona, which would also keep the door open for McCarthy to keep building toward a possible QB2 role when New York visits the Washington Commanders on Oct. 11.
Nagy doubled down on the idea that the process has to be handled carefully.
"What’s most realistic to get him ready to be a backup? That’s where you start, and that’s where we’re at," Nagy added about McCarthy.
"That process takes time, and there’s a little bit of realization in knowing it’s not gonna happen in one or two days. ... We just gotta see each and every day how much can he handle?
And then we continue to throw more and more at him. Then we gotta make our own judgment on what he’s doing on the field, and where does that take him as a No. 2 or No.
3?"
The Giants enter Sunday as 2.5-point home underdogs, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. If they stumble to 2-2, the noise from fans wanting McCarthy pushed into the lineup figures to get louder.
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