J.J. McCarthy makes his first start for the New York Giants on Sunday, October 25, at 1 p.m. EDT against the Houston Texans, in the same city where he won a national championship at Michigan in January 2024. The 23-year-old says he is keeping the occasion small. “Each game, each rep is an independent event,” he said after John Harbaugh named him the starter on Wednesday, October 21.
The 3-2-1 Giants lead the NFC East and face a 2-4 Houston team before their bye. Jameis Winston, who started the previous four games after Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury in Week 2, is the backup, and Jake Haener is the emergency third quarterback.
What he did in 11 minutes against New Orleans
McCarthy earned the job in one quarter. He came on with 11:25 left in the Week 6 game against the Saints, with the Giants down 34-10 at MetLife Stadium. He completed 11 of 21 passes for 243 yards, a rate of 11.6 yards per attempt, with one touchdown and one interception. He was also the Giants’ leading rusher that day, with 26 yards on two carries.
Three straight drives ended in points. Tyrone Tracy Jr. ran in from 5 yards out, and McCarthy found Isaiah Likely for the two-point conversion. He then hit Likely for a 24-yard touchdown, and Dominic Zvada’s 41-yard field goal with 2:04 left made it 34-27. New Orleans held on. Winston had gone 14 of 26 for 152 yards with two interceptions before the change.
Back with a Harbaugh
The start reunites McCarthy with a family he knows well. He went 27-1 as Michigan’s starter under Jim Harbaugh, and now plays for Jim’s brother John. McCarthy said both brothers are driven by faith, family and football and come to work every day trying to get better so their groups get better. “I’m just so blessed to be a part of a family that is led by a Harbaugh,” he said, adding that he can’t wait to play for his coach every day.
He also talked about Dart, whose injury opened the door. He said he spoke with Dart that day, that the two are pulling for each other, and that they have trained for years with the same quarterbacks coach in California. On the move itself, he said the new teammates, new staff and an offense that uses the quarterback’s legs feel like a natural fit, and that the Giants’ building shares the daily grind he sees in successful teams.
J.J. McCarthy on what it means to be a New York Giant pic.twitter.com/dFt4K5JBC2
— New York Giants (@Giants) October 21, 2026
On Houston, he said a return to the scene of the title game is special, but the focus is the first play and the six seconds inside it. He noted that the Giants are staying at the same hotel Michigan used in 2024.
How he got here
Minnesota took McCarthy 10th overall in the 2024 draft, and he spent his rookie year on injured reserve. He started 10 games in 2025, completing 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and ran for 181 yards and four scores. He won his last four starts, ending with a 16-3 win over Green Bay in the regular-season finale, and is 6-4 as an NFL starter. The Giants traded a 2027 fifth-round pick for him on September 28.
His full career numbers are on J.J. McCarthy’s WhyNFL player page.
What comes next
The Giants play at Houston at 1 p.m. EDT, live in the Giants-Texans Game Center. After the bye, they visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, November 8.
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