John Harbaugh said the New York Giants are still working through their offensive identity with Jameis Winston, and the quarterback picture behind him is not set.
Winston has taken the first-team reps this week, but Harbaugh declined to break down how the rest of the room is being used.
"We're working it the way we're going to work it for the game. Jameis has taken the reps, I would say," Harbaugh told reporters on Friday. "I'm not going to parse it out in terms of who's getting what reps, though. Wouldn't be any value in that for us."
That tracks with how he has handled a healthy starter. The starter gets the reps with the starters. The backup and the third quarterback take snaps mostly with the scout team, along with throws in one-on-ones and routes
on air. A backup might get a few walkthrough reps. That's about it.
"Mostly you've got to get your starter ready, and that's what we've always pretty much done," Harbaugh said. "As long as they've been healthy."
The harder part is how little time Winston has had with the offense as the starter. Harbaugh said the staff was still sorting out an identity in the first game and into the second with Jaxson Dart. A couple of plays into that second game, the plan changed.
"You can't deny that, can't lessen the impact of that, but it's a challenge that we've been faced with," Harbaugh said. "We're now into the — basically the second game plan game with Jameis. I feel like we have a better handle on it all probably, but we'll find out Sunday."
The roles behind Winston are still open. J.J. McCarthy has done what's been asked of him this week, but he's drinking out of a fire hose.
"He wants to learn. He wants to know it all," Harbaugh said. "It's just kind of what you'd expect."
Harbaugh would not name a second- or third-string quarterback. He said the staff is still deciding how to use McCarthy and Jake Haener, who has been with New York a little over a month and is further along in the offense.
Getting a quarterback ready to start on short notice, Harbaugh said, would be "really, really hard." Preparing him for a set role is more realistic, and that role has not been chosen. Sunday will show where the Winston plan stands. The depth chart behind him can wait.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants not ready to set roles for J.J. McCarthy, Jake Haener
