The New York Giants continue to grind out wins without their starting quarterback, Jaxson Dart, who is out for the rest of the regular season. New York holds a two-game lead atop the NFC East after its win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants have relied on J.J. McCarthy to be their starting quarterback after acquiring him from Minnesota midseason.
He suffered an injury in Week 9, but battled through to return after missing some action. McCarthy was remorseful after the game for slamming his helmet on the sideline and letting his emotions get the best of him.
J.J. McCarthy Expresses Regret for Slamming Helmet After Injury
McCarthy was visibly upset after leaving the game with an apparent hip injury. While he ended up returning later, at that point, he was simply angry and slammed his helmet against the bench.
J.J. McCarthy is in pain after an apparent injury.
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The 23-year-old quarterback was particularly mad at himself for not protecting himself and leaving himself vulnerable to hits like the one that injured him.
“I let my emotions get the best of me on the sideline, and that’s something that I’m a little disappointed with, but at the end of the day, it’s a physical game, and I need to do a better job of making sure that I protect myself and really focus on just being available at all times,” said McCarthy.
McCarthy gutted out the win for New York and moved them to 5-2-1. He completed 12 of his 19 passes for 127 yards and was sacked five times in the win.
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The only Giants touchdown, though, was an Isaiah Likely receiving touchdown that came with Jameis Winston at quarterback. But it’s McCarthy’s team right now when he is healthy enough to be out there.
The offense left quite a lot to be desired in Week 9, and McCarthy acknowledged that his sideline reaction was uncharacteristic and that he needed to do a better job of moving on when emotions boiled over.
“Yeah, the helmet. That was uncharacteristic and obviously did in MetLife when I hurt my finger, and it’s just one of those things where you can’t let emotions get to you. You’ve got to be able to just move on to the next thing and keep going,” said McCarthy.
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With the offense not operating at a particularly high level against the Eagles, the defense had to step up, and they answered the bell. The Giants’ defense ranks 10th in PFN’s Defense Impact Metric, with a grade of 78.6.
The Giants were led by Arvell Reese, who tallied 12 tackles, 3.0 sacks, and a forced fumble. Although it was a shorthanded Philadelphia offense with Joe Milton III at the helm, the New York defense dominated and got them the win.
The Giants have a short week ahead of them, as they’ll be playing on Thursday Night Football against the Washington Commanders. McCarthy will have just a few days to get his body right for primetime and get ready to keep his emotions in check for a matchup between two division rivals.
