New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh updated the media on several topics on Monday. First was the status of Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Burns, who left Sunday's 12-7 win over the Tennessee Titans in the fourth quarter with a knee injury.
It was confirmed that Burns tore his ACL and will have season-ending surgery. It was the second gut-punch in as many weeks for the Giants. Last week, they lost starting quarterback Jaxson Dart to a torn meniscus.
"We've got our quarterback one week and probably our top defensive player, you might say, the next week is shocking," Harbaugh said. "But you've got to overcome the shock, and you've got to get ready to play the next game and find a way to win the next game. That's what we'll be doing as a team. But I
feel bad for Brian more than anything. My heart breaks for him that way."
Replacing Dart will be difficult. Replacing Burns will be near impossible.
"Big challenge for us," Harbaugh said. "I mean, not just a great player, which he is. 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. Just, you hate to see it. I mean, and really for him, too. I mean, he was just such a rock for us."
Harbaugh then addressed the other headline of the day -- the trade for quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the question of who will be the team's starting quarterback going forward.
The answer was simple and definitive: Jameis Winston will continue as the starter.
"Jameis is starting. You guys asked me that last night. He's our starting quarterback and that's why we're rolling. We'll be ready to play this next game and going forward, excited about Jameis," Harabugh said. "I think we're going to find ourselves. I mean, we won the game. We did what we had to do to win the game and that's what we had to do. And I think Jameis did all the things as a quarterback that we needed to do to win that game, but that doesn't mean that's where we stand.
"We're going to keep growing. There's going to be new challenges in front of us. He's not going to be coming into a game kind of out of the blue, so to speak. Or is he going to be coming into a nor'easter every single week going forward here? So, I'm looking forward to seeing where we go and we'll build around. As we go, too, we'll get a chance to build around Jameis' strengths, all that kind of stuff. So, I feel good about it."
As for the plan for McCarthy, Harbaugh said he will be a backup until further notice.
"All the other conversation isn't going to help us beat the Cardinals. So, it's irrelevant," he said. "What we're going to be doing is he'll be either the number two quarterback or the number three quarterback Sunday. Jameis will be the starter. Jameis will be the starter for as long as I can see into the future."
The Giants host the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants' John Harbaugh laments Brian Burns injury: 'Heart breaks for him'
