{"id":1033867,"date":"2026-10-22T08:15:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T08:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1033867\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T08:15:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T08:15:53","slug":"adam-thielen-the-best-thing-j-j-mccarthy-can-do-for-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1033867\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Thielen: The ‘best thing’ J.J. McCarthy can do for Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of J.J. McCarthy\u2019s former teammates is excited for the quarterback\u2019s Giants chance. <\/p>\n

In fact, Adam Thielen thinks the signal-caller brings something \u201cincredible\u201d to the table that can help Big Blue. <\/p>\n

McCarthy will make his first start<\/a> for the Giants on Sunday against the Texans, officially taking things over from Jameis Winston, who had been starting in place of the injured Jaxson Dart<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Thielen, a teammate of McCarthy\u2019s in Minnesota last season, said on SiriusXM this week that the Michigan product has a great deep ball that should help the Giants\u2019 offense. But developing more finesse would go a long way, Thielen added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I think the best thing he does is the deep ball. He throws the best deep ball that I\u2019ve seen in a long time,\u201d the retired two-time Pro Bowler said<\/a>. \u201cI mean, it is, it is, it is incredible. I think the big thing that \u2014 the big question when he was in Minnesota was like, can he throw the touch balls and the layered balls like \u2014 like you see [49ers quarterback] Brock Purdy throw? I mean, there\u2019s so many examples in that game [Monday]. I\u2019m like, man, that if J.J. can develop some of that, like watch out because he\u2019s got every other tool in his back pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Giants quarterback J.J. McCarthy (18) passes during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. Bill Kostroun for NY Post<\/p>\n

McCarthy saw his first extended Giants action in Sunday\u2019s loss to the Saints, when he completed 11 of 21 passes for 243 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed twice for 26 yards.<\/p>\n

While a comeback against New Orleans ultimately fell short, head coach John Harbaugh on Sunday commended McCarthy for what he did to keep the Giants in the game. <\/p>\n

\"MinnesotaMinnesota Vikings\u2019 J.J. McCarthy looks on from the sideline during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a heck of a job given the circumstances and kind of desperation time,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cIt\u2019s different than normal football, but made some plays and gives us a chance to win the game. We\u2019re throwing the ball in the end zone at the end so that was good. You have to compliment him on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thielen spoke to McCarthy\u2019s character and said teammates enjoy being around the quarterback and his genuine enthusiasm for the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a gamer. Man, everyone loves him,\u201d Thielen added. \u201cLike again, we kind of go back to how we started the show, is everyone loves him. Like on the sideline, they\u2019re dapping him up, they\u2019re saying, \u2018Man, thanks for the effort.\u2019 <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u2018Cause everyone loves him. Everyone loves being around him. They love his energy, and his attitude, and his mindset. Like, he is a gamer, and you can\u2019t \u2014 you can\u2019t teach that. And so, if we can develop some of this and kind of rein it in and put the right offense around him, I think it\u2019s gonna be really fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy, a 2023 national champ with Michigan, will match up this weekend against a familiar rival in CJ Stroud, who was a two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year with Ohio State. <\/p>\n

McCarthy, with three touchdown passes, beat Stroud\u2019s Buckeyes during a 2022 meeting in Columbus. Sunday will mark the first time they\u2019ll do battle against each other as pros.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of J.J. McCarthy\u2019s former teammates is excited for the quarterback\u2019s Giants chance. In fact, Adam Thielen thinks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1033868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[4128,7,519,1519,2909,1917,56,2321,2469,6,9],"class_list":["post-1033867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-giants","tag-adam-thielen","tag-football","tag-giants","tag-j-j-mccarthy","tag-john-harbaugh","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkgiants","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117483574939980888","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1033867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1033868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1033867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1033867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1033867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}