Giants name J.J. McCarthy starting QB, bench Jameis Winston New York Times (Online) Charlotte Carroll The New York Giants are benching Jameis Winston and naming J.J. McCarthy the starting quarterback for their Week 7 game against the Houston Texans, coach John Harbaugh announced Wednesday afternoon. Winston, whom the Giants (3-2-1) signed to a two-year contract extension before the season began, goes back to being a backup after leading the Giants to a 2-1-1 record as the starter since taking over for the injured Jaxson Dart. New York is now putting its season in the hands of the 23-year-old McCarthy, who arrived in New York via trade with the Minnesota Vikings less than a month ago. He took over for Winston in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints, and after throwing an interception to end his first series, nearly mounted a miracle comeback. Trailing 34-10, McCarthy led the Giants on three scoring drives, tallied 17 points and put the Giants in position to tie or even win the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion. However, on fourth-and-1 in the final seconds of regulation, McCarthy's heave sailed over the shoulder of tight end Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone. McCarthy finished his day having completed 11-of-21 passes for 243 yards, one touchdown and one interception in his 11 minutes on the field. He also added 26 rushing yards on two carries. “I thought he came in there and did a heck of a job given the circumstances, you know, kind of desperation time ,” Harbaugh said in Sunday's postgame news conference. “It's different than normal football, but he made some plays and got us back, gave us a chance to win the game, and we're throwing the ball in the endzone at the end, so that was good. You've got to compliment him on that.” QB1 pic.twitter.com/4TDjeyUnkU — SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) October 21, 2026 McCarthy, of course, hasn't been in New York for very long, but he's been involved in the Giants' game plans from the outset. The Giants quickly created a package of plays for McCarthy and deployed the QB in their Week 5 tie against the Washington Commanders, just 13 days after they acquired him from the Vikings. The Giants have said since the trade was executed that McCarthy would need time to learn the offense before they'd consider making him their starter. At first, it seemed like Winston might give him plenty of it, as the 32-year-old veteran led the Giants to two straight victories and a comeback tie against Washington in Week 5, where he lit it up in the second half, becoming the only Giants QB since 1950 to amass 300-plus passing yards, three-plus passing touchdowns and 25-plus rushing yards in the same game. However, Winston's play has been erratic, and he was arguably at his worst Sunday against the Saints. He completed just 14-of-26 passes for 152 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions before he was benched. Harbaugh declined to name a starter after Sunday's loss and supported Winston this week despite not naming him the starter. “Jameis has done a great job in so many ways, and I just admire him and respect him for it,” Harbaugh said on Monday. “He's helped us win games and did what he had to do to win games, and that's something you value very much.” Despite Harbaugh's support, there has always seemed to be a sense of when — not if — McCarthy would replace Winston in the starting lineup. For one thing, the Giants surrendered a 2027 fifth-round pick for him, but McCarthy also comes with the tantalizing resume of being a recent first-round pick who led Michigan to the 2023 national championship while playing for John Harbaugh's brother, Jim. John Harbaugh said after the trade that he has long been a fan of McCarthy. Now, he is entrusting the young quarterback to help his first-place Giants stay out front in a very winnable NFC East. For McCarthy, that starts this Sunday when the Giants travel to Houston to take on the Texans ahead of their Week 8 bye. The Texans present a tough test for McCarthy in his starting debut, as Houston currently ranks third in the NFL in sacks (18) and pressures quarterbacks at the 15th-highest clip (37 percent) in the league.