EAST RUTHERFORD — There will be no soft launching point for J.J. McCarthy, or one more chance for Jameis Winston in hopes that the offense somehow gets fixed in Houston. The Giants want the highest upside quarterback on the field, and they want it to happen now.

Head coach John Harbaugh has tabbed McCarthy as the starting quarterback for the Giants’ Week 7 road game next Sunday at Houston.

“It’s, all things considered, what gives us the best chance to play the best offense we can,” Harbaugh said. “I thought Jameis has done a tremendous job, won us games, played well. But as we go forward here, this is gonna be our direction. We think it gives us some good options on offense.”

It was always a matter of when — not if — the Giants would turn to McCarthy after they traded a 2027 fifth-round draft pick to acquire the 23-year-old from the Vikings on Sept. 28.

After Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 at Los Angeles, the Giants wanted to find another quarterback who gave them the mobility that their offense is based around. Winston has a big arm — and flashed it in a big way by rallying the Giants to a 27-27 tie at Washington in Week 5 — but can’t run read options or scramble in the pocket as well as McCarthy.

“I feel like it just adds multiplicity to where you can attack a defense,” McCarthy said. “It’s always doing my job of holding a backside player and making sure that we could give that split second to the running back to split that crease and make it a 15-yard gain instead of a 6-yard gain.”

Making this an easier decision for Harbaugh is the fact that McCarthy nearly willed the Giants to a 24-point comeback win Sunday against the Saints when Winston got benched with 11:25 remaining.

McCarthy became the first player in NFL history to throw for 243 yards in an 11-minute span, according to Polymarket, and he also ripped off a 28-yard run while leading the Giants to 17 points in the fourth quarter. They ended up losing, 34-27.

“J.J.’s got a skill set that we can take advantage of, and we’re excited to see it,” Harbaugh said. “He’s got the game plan down. I think he had it down last week pretty fully, even more so this week. It has been tailored a little more toward his direction probably, but he’ll be ready to go.”

It’s certainly not an ideal first opponent for McCarthy as the Giants (3-2-1) are 10-point road underdogs vs. the Texans (2-4), who feature one of the NFL’s most talented defenses.

But even if the Giants waited until after their bye next week, they travel to Philadelphia to face Vic Fangio’s tricky Eagles defense in Week 9.

The Giants’ priority is giving themselves the best chance to win this week, and they can believe McCarthy is ready after spending more than three weeks learning the playbook and seeing some snaps as the backup over the last two games.

“I feel like just being around a new group of guys, new system, new coaching staff, just a new culture, everything about this place, it feels very fitting for me,” McCarthy said. “Just being in a makeshift locker room, being in this system where they use the quarterback’s legs and a multitude of things, but the personalities, the culture of just grinding every single day to get better, and everyone helping each other to progress towards one goal — it’s been fantastic. A lot of successful buildings have similar qualities.”

McCarthy is one of the most interesting case studies in the NFL right now because he was a national champion at Michigan and the 10th pick in the 2024 draft.

He missed his entire record season with a knee injury and started 10 games for the Vikings in 2025 while battling more injuries. He posted a 6-4 record but ranked last among 33 quarterbacks in completion percentage (57.6), interception rate (4.9) and QB rating (72.6).

Can the Giants keep McCarthy healthy and coach him to make better decisions with the football? Those are the major questions as his stint as the starting quarterback gets underway.

“I believe just experience does wonders,” McCarthy said. “Being able to be in that same situation where you might’ve made a mistake the last time, this time you’re just gonna react better and make a more well-rounded response, decision in that situation.”

Injury Report

Left tackle Andrew Thomas, right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, swing tackle Marcus Mbow, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, cornerback Greg Newsome II and safety Jevon Holland missed Wednesday’s practice because of injuries.

Cornerback Paulson Adebo, who lost a starting job in training camp, practiced for the first time since going on injured reserve on Sept. 18 because of a knee injury. The Giants now have 21 days to either activate Adebo or shift him to season-ending IR.

Adebo and the following players were limited participants: cornerback Colton Hood, tight end Theo Johnson, wide receiver Charlie Jones, safety Tyler Nubin, punter Jordan Stout and outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux.