John Harbaugh refused to settle the Giants’ quarterback question on Sunday, saying moments after a 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints that he could not say whether J.J. McCarthy will replace Jameis Winston as the starter after McCarthy nearly erased a 24-point deficit in relief.
Asked at his postgame news conference whether the job had changed hands, Harbaugh said the game had ended only minutes earlier and that the subject was “not even up for discussion” yet. The staff, he added, would go back to work on the film before anything is decided.
John Harbaugh during his postgame presser on whether J.J. McCarthy will take over for Jameis Winston as the Giants' starter: "Can't answer that now. Game just ended 10 minutes ago…. Just like I said, I can't answer it now. It's not even up for discussion or conversation right…
— Mark Maske (@MarkMaske) October 18, 2026
The case the two quarterbacks made
The contrast inside one afternoon at MetLife Stadium was hard to ignore. Winston started and put New York ahead early with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Tracy Jr., but he finished 14 of 26 for 152 yards with two interceptions. Julian Blackmon returned one of them 21 yards early in the fourth quarter, and two snaps later the Saints led 34-10 with 11:31 to go.
McCarthy came on after Winston’s second pick and moved the offense in a way it had not managed for most of the day. In a little more than a quarter he completed 11 passes for 243 yards. He hit Isaiah Likely for a two-point conversion after Tracy’s 5-yard touchdown run, found Likely again for a 24-yard score, and connected with Malik Nabers on a 46-yard throw that set up Dominic Zvada’s 41-yard field goal to make it a one-score game with 2:04 left.
J.J. to LEEK for 46 yards!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/j40LuawHOR
— New York Giants (@Giants) October 18, 2026
The rally ended on New York’s final possession, when a fourth-and-1 throw from McCarthy toward the goal line was not caught with under a minute to play.
How the Giants got here
The quarterback room has been reshaped on the fly. Jaxson Dart’s season ended with a knee injury in Week 2, Winston took over, and the Giants traded for McCarthy in late September. Until Sunday his work had come mostly in a change-of-pace package rather than as the full-time option.
The loss was the Giants’ first since Week 2 and dropped them to 3-2-1. Four turnovers undid a day on which they outgained New Orleans 461 yards to 319, and Nabers finished with 12 catches for 165 yards. Harbaugh also addressed a second personnel question, saying running back Cam Skattebo, who did not get a carry, had not been benched and that his absence from the ground game “wasn’t by design.”
What comes next
The Giants visit the Houston Texans on Sunday, October 25, at 1 p.m. EDT, their last game before the bye. The full story of Sunday’s loss is in our Saints-Giants recap, and every number is in the Game Center.
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