New York Giants  quarterback J.J. McCarthy has enjoyed a fresh start since arriving in East Rutherford five weeks ago.

It started with the former No. 10 pick adjusting to a whole new playbook after he was traded from Minnesota, albeit one the team believed would suit his skill set better than it did Jameis Winston’s. Winston had taken over as the starter after Jaxson Dart went down for the season with a knee injury in Week 2.

With Winston unable to push the Giants over the finish line in close games against the Commanders and Saints, calls for McCarthy to step in grew louder, and head coach John Harbaugh moved to see where the young signal caller’s progress in his Matt Nagy crash course stood.

In 11 minutes during the Saints game, McCarthy almost did the unthinkable, carrying the Giants’ offense back from a 34-10 deficit with 243 passing yards and one touchdown pass, only to fall one more six-point conversion short of completing the ultimate comeback.

The effort was enough to convince Harbaugh to hand the reins to McCarthy, who has since rewarded his coach’s trust with a 2-0 record as the starter, thanks to two impressive road wins over the Texans and Eagles that have the Giants running away with the NFC East lead at 5-2-1.

Now, on a short week with the Washington Commanders on deck for a rematch at MetLife Stadium on Thursday night, the 23-year-old McCarthy aims for 3-0 in his first full home game as the Giants’ starter.

“I haven’t thought about it until now, but I’m just so blessed to be a part of this team,” McCarthy said.

“I say it over and over again, and I just can’t thank the Giants organization and the fanbase for welcoming me. At the end of the day, I’m running out there to do my job at a high level and get a win on Thursday night.”

McCarthy Is Finally Playing Up to His Potential

When the Giants needed another gunslinger, it didn’t take long for them to go after McCarthy, whose time with the Vikings hadn’t met the expectations that followed him out of college.

It helped that Harbaugh got a glowing endorsement from his brother, Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, who had coached McCarthy at the University of Michigan, where the duo captured the school’s 12th national championship in 2023.

Unfortunately, the quarterback’s first foray into the pros wouldn’t match that success, as McCarthy missed seven games during his rookie season with the Vikings due to multiple injuries. He finished with 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.

Still, Harbaugh and the Giants found enough reason to trade a fifth-round pick to Minnesota in hopes of more security at quarterback as they aimed to remain competitive.

For both parties, the move has more than paid off. In two starts, McCarthy has been throwing it around the yard, completing 67.3% of his passes for 389 yards while adding 23 yards on the ground, giving the Giants’ offense an extra threat that has forced opposing defenses to account for him in both phases.

The lone blemish on his early résumé has been the lack of a passing touchdown, with the only six-point toss coming from Winston’s arm during the win over Philadelphia.

McCarthy will have another chance to notch that first one on Thursday, with support from the home crowd that went wild during his epic rally against New Orleans the last time they saw him play.

“You have to,” McCarthy said. “To really let go of those emotions, you have to accept them, let them be, and then let them go. Just being able to be real with yourself and realize they’re human emotions, it’s completely natural.

“That’s when you can let them go and move past them as quickly as possible. If you try to avoid them and resist them, then they tend to linger.”

Putting on a game face amid all the pomp and circumstance that will engulf MetLife Stadium is only half of the challenge for McCarthy as he braces for his first home start.

The other half is the fact that it is coming on a short week and just days after he took a bit of a bruising against the Eagles, including a moment where he looked to be in intense pain as he tried to toss a few practice throws along the sidelines during the Giants’ third-quarter touchdown drive led by Winston.

McCarthy returned to the game and pushed the Giants into field goal range on two succeeding drives to seal a huge 19-11 win over their division rivals. He credits the team’s medical staff for helping him get back on his feet and has no concerns about giving his all against the Commanders.

“I feel really good,” McCarthy added. “Obviously, Sunday, it’s football, it’s a physical game, but just credit to the athletic training staff for getting me back to feeling really good as quickly as possible.”

With his health improving, the rest of the time leading up to his first home start is purely about preparation and nailing the details that will help New York get a third consecutive win and maintain their strong record in the division.

“Obviously, it’s about the preparation and knowing your stuff over everything. It’s really nice to have a division opponent, especially [Commanders defensive coordinator] Daronte [Jones],” McCarthy said.

“I have so much respect for him, and just being with him in Minnesota in the past and seeing what he’s doing with these guys, it’s really cool, and just being able to really hone in on the game plan is the number one thing.

“But at the end of the day, it’s getting the body turned over and just going out there and playing fundamentally sound (blocking, throwing, catching, all the things that move the football down the field), and that’s really what we’re focused on.”