New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh left the door open for J.J. McCarthy to back up Jameis Winston against the Washington Commanders, one day after explaining why the former Minnesota quarterback was active but unused in the team's win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Asked Monday whether McCarthy could know the offense well enough to be the backup in Week 5, Harbaugh suggested he could.
"I think that’s a possibility. We’ll see how it goes during the week, but that’s definitely on the table," he told reporters.
Harbaugh brushed aside questions about rebuilding McCarthy's confidence after Minnesota.
“Not really thinking about that,” he said. “We’re just focused on preparing for the next game. Getting him ready for the Commanders game. That’s really what
we’ll be looking to try to get accomplished.”
Sunday’s plan was more limited. Harbaugh said McCarthy was active because of how the Giants were arranged on special teams.
“We had enough guys playing special teams and it just gave us an option in case we wanted to put J.J. out there to run certain plays that we had prepared for him, but to think that he was going to be the backup for the whole game was unrealistic,” he said.
Jake Haener was up from the practice squad as well.
“We just felt like we needed three guys for kind of the two roles," Harbaugh added.
The prepared package never came out. Winston remained the quarterback who made the plays the offense needed, while McCarthy’s presence was a contingency rather than a change in the backup plan.
That leaves the week of Commanders preparation as the next test. Harbaugh has already said New York will prepare as if Jayden Daniels is playing. Whether McCarthy is the quarterback behind Winston remains to be seen.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: J.J. McCarthy could serve as Giants' primary backup vs. Commanders
