During his weekly press conference on Thursday, New York Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy was peppered with questions about newly-acquired quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Nagy answered them, but he did remind that it is important to remember that Jameis Winston, not McCarthy, is the team’s starting quarterback.
“I think it’s important to say, I understand the questions on J.J., I get it, but I also don’t want to lose sight of where we’re at with the time that we’re spending on Jameis,” Nagy said.
Winston is 25 of 49 (51%) for 229 yards with no touchdowns, one interception, a passer rating of just 55.6, a league worst QBR of 22.9, and an EPA per play of -0.31, 34th of 36 graded quarterbacks. The Giants did win the game Winston started despite having to settle for four field goals in a 12-7 victory.
“So, the first game with the Rams, that’s not easy. That’s a difficult situation to walk into. So, that one’s a little tough to fairly criticize, I think, in my opinion,” Nagy said. “Then the second game, there was a little bit of weather, or whether we like it or not, that’s what’s real. So, but at the same point in time, we need to score touchdowns. That’s what, it’s my job as offensive coordinator. It’s our job as players.
“And so, I have a ton of trust. And I really feel great about what’s about to happen and what he can do. And I think he’s got a resume that’s shown that. And our players, our coaches, everyone here believes in Jameis, everybody. There’s no doubt. We just got to go out there and we got to do it. And scoring touchdowns will help that confidence. Scoring touchdowns will help that trust and that belief.”
Malik Nabers echoed Nagy’s faith in Winston.
“I think we got pretty good confidence in Jameis on his ability to throw the ball downfield, do play action, get involved with the run game. So, I feel like Jameis can do a lot in this offense,” Nabers said. “Jameis has been a part of a lot of different offense. So, this offense is probably nothing different than what he’s already seen. So, we got pretty good confidence in his ability to give us the ball and manage the offense.”
McCarthy-mania
No matter how many times you remind Giants fans, or most of the media, that Winston is the quarterback and will be until he plays his way out of the job, the attention is all on McCarthy and how quickly the Giants can get him ready to play.
“There’s a lot involved, it takes some time, I guess is my point, what I’m saying,” Nagy said. “So, what our job is going to be is to balance it, to see what’s fair to him. What can he handle, what’s real? And then you just go from there. And I think that’s where, as long as we all have kind of the same standards and expectations as we go through this, then that’s only fair to everybody.”
Nagy was non-committal about whether McCarthy would know enough to be the No. 2 quarterback vs. the Arizona Cardinals, or possibly be used in a sub-package.
“What’s most realistic to get him ready to be a backup, right? That’s where you start, and that’s where we’re at, and that process takes some time,” Nagy said. “And there’s a little bit of realization in knowing it’s not going to happen in one or two days. I think that’s only fair, but we just got to see each and every day how much can he handle, and then we continue to throw more and more at him, and then we got to make our own judgment on, now, what is he doing on the field, and where does that take him as a number two or number three?”
