The “J.J. McCarthy Package” existed but was never used.
The Giants manipulated their special teams Sunday so they could have three quarterbacks — starter Jameis Winston, backup Jake Haener elevated from the practice squad and the newly acquired McCarthy — active on their 46-man game-day roster.
By activating McCarthy instead of declaring him the emergency No. 3 quarterback, the Giants could have inserted him into the game at any point rather than only if their first two quarterbacks were out for the game.
“We had enough guys playing special teams, and it just gave us an option in case we wanted to put J.J. out there to run certain plays that we had prepared for him,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “But to think that he was going to be the backup for the whole game was unrealistic. So we had Jake up, too, and that was our thinking. We just felt like we needed three guys for kind of the two roles.”
The Giants attempted a pair of 2-point conversion plays — where McCarthy’s legs could have added an extra layer of unpredictability — but Harbaugh said there was never a consideration of putting him in the game as it unfolded.
Bryan Hudson replaced John Michael Schmitz as the starting center after Schmitz missed practice time this week because his wife gave birth. Schmitz showed up to the stadium in a “Dad” hat.
“Huddy had been doing so well,” Harbaugh said. “We kind of felt like, ‘He’s got the reps. He’s made the calls, and we were kind of thinking about starting to work him in a little bit here and there — even some extra line stuff — if possible. … JMS didn’t have a lot of rest. It just made sense, and I think it paid off. It’s not a long-term thing. We just have two centers we really like.”
WR Braxton Berrios (foot), S Jason Pinnock (concussion) and DL Chauncey Golston (neck) were ruled out in the third quarter.
Tyler Nubin, who started the game but was benched for Pinnock after taking a poor angle and then missing a tackle on Tyler Allgeier’s 22-yard touchdown run, returned in Pinnock’s place.
Dominic Zvada has started his career 9-for-9 on field goals and is the first Giants rookie to kick three or more field goals of 50-plus yards in a single season (after Week 4).
“That kid’s doing a great job,” Harbaugh said, “but he’s going to be thinking about the next kick.”
The much-maligned Giants pass rush finished with seven hits (three by Abdul Carter) on QB Jacoby Brissett. Tremaine Edmunds and C.J. Okoye tripled the Giants’ season sack total from one to three.
“Any time you are playing a veteran who wants to stay in the pocket, get the ball out fast, everything is on time,” Carter said, “when you disrupt his timing and get him on the ground a few times, it helps a lot.”
