34-27 loss to the Saints<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe performance backed up the coaching staff\u2019s belief that McCarthy turned a corner last week and was ready for a bigger role.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust the confidence of him being able to, in practice, talk to us about the scheme, where his eyes are going in the pass game, where he\u2019s snapping the ball with a motion or a shift,\u201d Nagy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there was a shoestring with Jameis or he got hurt, he could go in and function. Whereas the first two weeks, I had a highlighted [play] call sheet that, if something happened and he was in, these were the plays. It was probably 50 percent. Last week, it was probably 90 percent. Now this week, it\u2019s going to be 100 percent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Giants Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy speaks at a press conference as the New York Giants practice on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
Tight end Isaiah Likely said it is the responsibility of the other 10 offensive players to make McCarthy \u201cas comfortable as can be [for] a quarterback in a new offense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McCarthy has at least two pass catchers who believe they are always open. So, he\u2019ll throw his 50 mph fastballs \u2014 among the fastest quarterback velocity in the league \u2014 downfield (12.4 career yards per completion) against a notoriously ball-hawking secondary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLetting him know that as long as the ball\u2019s in the air and in my vicinity, it\u2019s a great pass either way,\u201d Likely said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if somebody\u2019s on me or if I\u2019m wide open. Just throw the ball, trust me, and I\u2019m going to make the play for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Giants quarterback J.J. McCarthy (18) runs with the ball during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
McCarthy is the eighth quarterback that Malik Nabers has caught a pass from in 25 career games. His strategy for adapting to quarterback change is simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet open; just get open,\u201d Nabers said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to find you, and they know who their guys are. And when you talk to them, just give motivation to them. Tell them, \u2018I know you\u2019re just coming in, you don\u2019t know me, really \u2026 but just know on certain plays, just give me an opportunity. Even when I\u2019m covered, just give me an opportunity.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0<\/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
McCarthy aced the no-huddle part of the playbook against the Saints. But what about managing a four-quarter game?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHis operation is really, really good,\u201d Nagy said. \u201cIt starts with listening to the play call in your headset, being able to say it and\/or read it on the wristband, get to the line of scrimmage, and then be a quarterback: see the formation, motion shifts, see the play clock, make your ID checks or whatever you do with the center, and then make a play. What he\u2019s doing is amazing. He wants as much as he can get to digest within our offense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Giants could have not thrown McCarthy into a hostile road environment as 9.5-point underdogs and given him two weeks to prepare to make his first start after the bye. Why wait?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would not have had the discussion if we didn\u2019t think he could do it,\u201d Nagy said. \u201cWe fully feel as a staff [quarterbacks] coach [Brian] Callahan has done an amazing job working with him and getting him ready. We feel confident about it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Giants\u2019 ever-changing quarterback situation is testing offensive coordinator Matt Nagy\u2019s math skills.\u00a0 Nagy estimated that the Giants…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1034822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[7,519,4698,1519,1801,4126,26822,1917,56,2321,2469,6,9],"class_list":["post-1034821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-giants","tag-football","tag-giants","tag-isaiah-likely","tag-j-j-mccarthy","tag-jameis-winston","tag-malik-nabers","tag-matt-nagy","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkgiants","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117489579039855304","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034821","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=1034821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1034822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}