New York Giants quarterback JJ McCarthy is on track to play in Thursday night's home game against the Washington Commanders after suffering a hip pointer in Sunday's 19-11 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
McCarthy temporarily left the game early in the second half after taking a hit to the midsection, missing one series before returning to help secure the Giants' first win in Philadelphia since 2013. The injury has been diagnosed as a hip pointer.
On Monday, Giants coach John Harbaugh said McCarthy is "doing well" and that "it does look like he's going to play" against the Commanders. The Giants are 2-0 in games started by McCarthy.
In Sunday's win, McCarthy completed 12 of 19 passes for 127 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. In his first start with New York, he went 20 of 28 for 252 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions in an overtime win over the Houston Texans.
The Giants' only touchdown on Sunday came during the series McCarthy missed. Backup quarterback Jameis Winston, who had started four games this season (2-1-1 record) before being replaced by McCarthy, threw a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. Winston completed 6 of 8 passes for 71 yards on a 14-play, 76-yard drive that consumed nearly eight minutes.
McCarthy returned on the next possession and engineered a 13-play, 54-yard scoring drive that included two third-down conversions: an 11-yard completion to Malik Nabers on third-and-5 and an 11-yard run on third-and-10 that brought New York into field-goal range.
The victory kept the Giants in sole possession of first place in the NFC East. Thursday's matchup will come nearly one month after the two teams tied when Washington mishandled the final seconds of overtime.
