The Giants didn’t hold a practice on Monday, but they say quarterback J.J. McCarthy would have been able to participate if they weren’t coming off of a game on Sunday.
McCarthy was listed as a limited participant due to the hip injury that briefly forced him out of Sunday’s 19-11 win over the Eagles. Head coach John Harbaugh said at a press conference earlier in the day that the team believes McCarthy will be well enough to play against the Commanders on Thursday night.
Linebacker Abdul Carter (knee, back), linebacker Malik Harrison (groin), wide receiver Charlie Jones (thumb), wide receiver Darnell Mooney (chest), and running back Cam Skattebo (hamstring) were also listed as limited. Harbaugh said he expects Skattebo to play after he missed the Eagles game.
Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor (calf), tight end Theo Johnson (neck), wide receiver Malik Nabers (knee), and left tackle Andrew Thomas (groin) were listed as full participants.
Giants Clips
After Sunday’s win over the Eagles, Giants receiver Malik Nabers had some things to say about things Fox’s Greg Olsen had to say about Nabers during the game.
On Monday, Olsen had some things to say about how the New York Post and USA Today characterized the things he said.
Olsen accused those publications of making up quotes and putting “worlds [sic] in my mouth.”
In order to avoid any doubt about what Olsen (and others on the Fox broadcast) said — and didn’t say — about Nabers, we went to the video (and audio).
Early in the fourth quarter of the Giants-Eagles game, after Giants quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw a pass behind an open Nabers who was running right to left, the Fox cameras showed Nabers waving an arm in apparent frustration.
Said Fox’s Joe Davis, regarding Nabers: “His body language has been terrible today.”
“It’s just not good,” Olsen said.
Olsen revisited the subject a little bit later.
“You brought up Malik Nabers,” Olsen said, “and you never know exactly what’s being said. It’s easy for us to sit here and interpret body language. When we asked [offensive coordinator] Matt Nagy about him, he said, ‘Listen, he’s very vocal. When he didn’t get the ball to start the year, he let everyone know it.’ He said, ‘Me and Malik have a good understanding right now. What’s perceived as being negative, what’s perceived as being a distraction, I think we both have an understanding of each other that allows it to coexist.’ And just certainly is something to keep an eye on.”
Not long after that, the booth threw to Fox sideline reporter Pam Oliver for more on Nabers.
“Yeah, you guys talk about his body language,” Oliver said. “I can tell you a little more about his mindset. I talked to him. And he told me, ‘I just demand excellence out of everybody around me. Anybody that has a hand in my career. Because you only get one shot. It’s your life, it’s your career.’ It’s fueled by a great sense of urgency in that hard-fought return to the field from that knee injury. Nabers said — told me, ‘I’m not going out there running all these routes not to get the ball.’”
Said Davis in response, “I totally get it. But when your teammate scores the go-ahead touchdown and you still have that look? Not great.”
“Yeah, listen,” Olsen said, “there’s a fine line. I played with a lot of really good wide receivers. A lot really good players. There’s never been a great wide receiver who hasn’t demanded the ball. That kind of comes with the territory. There is a few exceptions to guys that are just a different personality and a different approach.
“But there is a very fine line between being demanding, being a competitor, and all those great things. That’s great. It just can never cross that it feels like it takes away from the success of your teammates. So when your teammate catches a wide-open touchdown, you need to be the happiest guy on the field. You can’t still be worried about your targets. So that’s the fine line. He’s a talented, young, really good player. He’s just got to keep it in check.”
That same drive included a third-down throw to Nabers in the end zone. Nabers couldn’t make the reception, leading to a field goal.
“Listen, you want to demand the ball — you can’t throw that ball any better,” Olsen said after Nabers failed to catch the pass. “That’s a touchdown. You’re a premier player in this league. You’ve got an opportunity there, you’ve got to catch it.”
That’s the full extent of everything that was said on the Fox broadcast during the relevant exchange.
The problem is that too many outlets don’t type quotes precisely. Some will mash pieces of different sentences together. Even if the overall message is the same (and, frankly, it seems as if Davis and Olsen were being critical of Nabers, with Davis being more pointed than Olsen), the absence of accuracy opens the door for criticism of the message.
In this case, Olsen never called Nabers a “bad teammate.” However, Olsen explained that there’s a “fine line” between “being demanding, being a competitor, and all those great things” and “tak[ing] away from the success of your teammates.” Which basically is one of the hallmarks of being a bad teammate.
That’s why all outlets that are going to pass along quotes made on broadcasts should strive to get the quotes right. It eliminates any ambiguity as to what was said — and it prevents a subsequent attack regarding the accuracy of the quote.
Especially when the accurate quote tends to lead to the same place.
The NFL announced a couple of changes to kickoff times for Week 11 of the 2026 season.
The Jaguars and Giants were originally scheduled to start their game at MetLife Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on November 22, but the game will now get underway at 4:25 p.m. ET. The Steelers’ visit to Philadelphia to face the Eagles was set for that time and it will now take over the 1 p.m. slot.
Both games will still be broadcast by CBS and the Jaguars-Giants contest is now set to be the network’s national game during that window. It’s a sensible change as both teams are leading their divisions while the Eagles, who have a bye in Week 10, will carry a seven-game losing streak into their matchup with the Steelers.
A Raiders-Broncos game in Denver will also start at 4:25 p.m. ET and the Jets-Chargers game in Los Angeles will be the lone 4:05 p.m. ET start that weekend.
The NFL has fully embraced a full slate of Thursday night games, justifying the health-and-safety realities by pointing to in-game injury rates when a team has a full week to rest and when it has a four-day turnaround.
That selective statistical focus overlooks the basic reality that some players injured on one Sunday would be ready by the next Sunday, but won’t be ready by Thursday.
For Giants quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the three extra days to recover from the hip pointer he suffered on Sunday would be useful. As it stands, the clock is ticking toward Thursday night’s game against the Commanders.
Coach John Harbaugh told reporters on Monday that McCarthy is “doing well,” and that it “does look like he’s going to play” on Thursday night.
Even if he’s not playing, there’s strategic value in keeping the Commanders in the dark about whether it will be McCarthy or Jameis Winston. Either way, it would be wise for Washington to be ready for both guys, since McCarthy could aggravate the injury or suffer a new one.
That’s the reality of rolling with McCarthy. His fearlessness means he’ll take hits. The more hits he takes, the more likely it is that he’ll be hurt.
Winston did well during the brief time McCarthy went to the locker room, presumably for a quick visit with Dr. Needle. Winston completed six passes for 71 yards and a touchdown — half of the total passes McCarthy completed in the rest of the game.
In the end, the Giants got another win. They’re 5-2-1. And they’re taking control of the NFC East, especially with the Eagles at 2-7, the Commanders at 2-5-1, and the Cowboys at 4-5.
McCarthy has a higher floor than Winston. Winston, when things are clicking, could have a higher ceiling. And he seems to be better when he enters a game cold, giving the Giants the best of both worlds as they try to turn a season that seemed lost seven weeks ago tonight into something special.
The Giants played without running back Cam Skattebo in Sunday’s 19-11 win over the Eagles, but they do not expect his absence from the lineup to linger.
Head coach John Harbaugh said at a Monday press conference that the expectation is that Skattebo will be “full go” for Thursday night’s game against the Commanders.
Skattebo suffered a hamstring injury late in the Giants’ Week 7 win over the Texans and missed practice for two days coming out of the bye week. He returned on Friday and Harbaugh said he was close to being ready for the Eagles, but that the team had the quick turnaround in mind when making a plan for managing his health.
Devin Singletary was the lead back for the Giants against the Eagles and he ran 21 times for 31 yards. Gregory Desrosiers had 20 yards on three carries.
Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers took to social media on Sunday night to express his displeasure with how he was portrayed during the Fox broadcast of his team’s 19-11 win over the Eagles.
In a post to his Instagram story that was later taken down, Nabers took particular issue with Greg Olsen’s characterization of him. After quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw a pass behind Nabers in the fourth quarter, Fox showed Nabers gesturing with his hands and Olsen said he was letting the quarterback know to put the ball in front of him. Play-by-play announcer Joe Davis said Nabers’s “body language has been terrible” throughout the game with Olsen agreeing that it wasn’t good.
The broadcast also showed Nabers slamming his helmet on the sideline at one point and sideline reporter Pam Oliver discussed Nabers’s desire to have the ball come his way. Olsen went on to say that there is “a fine line” between receivers demanding the ball and being overly worried about your own touches that it detracts from the success of others. Nabers responded to what he believes was an implication that he’s a bad teammate.
“Y’all be trying [to] create a narrative on me soo bad, it’s actually crazy!! If you [don’t] like the way I play the game, keep the camera off me!! SIMPLE! But [Olsen] calling me a bad teammate when every team I’ve been on, there’s NOBODY I’ve played with has said dat bout me is crazy! My face the same way if I’m havin a good game, bad, winning or losing,” Nabers wrote. “If it’s a problem. 1. Keep the camera off of me. 2. Pray bout it! Simple.”
Nabers finished the game with five catches for 43 yards, which snapped a four-game streak with at least 111 receiving yards. He said in his postgame media session that he was frustrated with how the offense played at points in Philadelphia, but his frustration with Olsen and Davis might have been even greater.
The trade chatter regarding Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has lasted for two weeks. It will last at least two more days.
The current belief in league circles is that the Colts will take the best offer that’s on the table as the deadline approaches at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Sure, the Colts would like to get as much as they can, ideally landing the same package the Panthers got from the 49ers for running back Christian McCaffrey. But the Colts are likely to take what they can get, with the market for Taylor set by the competition among the teams that make an offer.
Regardless, the 2-7 Colts are ready to sell. At this point, they should be ready to move anyone — and everyone. They’re hoping to stockpile draft picks for the next General Manager. The more picks that compile, the more attractive the job becomes.
So whether it’s the teams that have been linked to Taylor (Giants, Vikings, Seahawks, Broncos, Packers) or someone unexpected (like the 49ers), a trade is expected to happen before the clock strikes 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 10.
The Giants have been linked to a pursuit of Colts running back Jonathan Taylor for the last few weeks and a report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Eagles suggested it’s unlikely that they’ll be trading for him before Tuesday afternoon’s deadline.
Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported that the Giants offered the Colts second- and fifth-round picks for Taylor and that they have since pulled that offer from the table because the Colts did not accept it. Giants head coach John Harbaugh was asked about that report after his team’s 19-11 win.
“I’d say we’re open for any kind of situation, but I will say this, things do change,” Harbaugh said, via a transcript from the Eagles. “Things change from day-to-day. So it’s not like one day you may do something and the next day something happens and it changes your position. I’m not saying that report’s not true. Those conversations are taking place and if something happens for any player, I can’t talk about any player because they’re with other teams right now, but we’re not ruling anything out, but I don’t see anything particularly imminent right now either. So we’ll see what happens.”
The Colts lost to the Cowboys on Sunday, so they are now 2-7 and have even more reason to prioritize future assets over this year’s roster. That could make them open to a return that was less appealing a couple of weeks ago.
On the other hand, the Giants are now 5-2-1 despite a mediocre running back group that produced 51 yards on 24 carries on Sunday. With a clear path to a division title and the chance to see what happens in the playoffs, they may be more open to going all in than when they last spoke to the Colts.
J.J. McCarthy’s time with the Vikings was interrupted by several injuries, so the quarterback was eager to make sure that he wasn’t knocked out of Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
McCarthy injured his hip at the end of a short run in the third quarter and missed the next offensive series while being evaluated in the locker room. McCarthy returned to the sideline after Jameis Winston threw a touchdown to give the Giants a 13-8 lead and could be seen jumping around while encouraging teammates.
After the 19-11 win, McCarthy said he was trying “to feel it out and make sure that I was ready to go full speed” and that went well enough for McCarthy to return for the fourth quarter. He led the Giants to a pair of field goals and had a key 11-yard run on one third down that showed he could handle the job.
“It’s feeling good,” McCarthy said of his hip, via a transcript from the Eagles. “Football is a physical game, and I can’t thank the training staff enough for helping me get back on the field as fast as possible. But yeah, it’s feeling pretty good.”
The Giants have a Thursday game against the Commanders and McCarthy said “we’re going to do our best to make sure we turn over as fast as possible and do whatever we can between now and then and make sure we’re as close to 100 percent” for that contest.
Sunday’s performance in Philadelphia wasn’t a work of art for the Giants, but it was more than good enough to end their long losing streak in the City of Brotherly Love.
Tight end Isaiah Likely’s touchdown catch in the third quarter gave the Giants their first lead since the first quarter and they expanded it to 19-11 before punting the ball back to the Eagles with 90 seconds left to play in the game. Joe Milton picked up first downs on completions to Hollywood Brown and Dallas Goedert, but rookie wideout Makai Lemon dropped a pass that would have moved them into Giants territory and running back Elijah Mitchell didn’t get out of bounds on a short catch on the next play.
Milton spiked the ball with six seconds left to play and the Eagles on their own 44-yard-line for one final heave. Milton famously uncorked a 70-yard throw at the Combine, but he never got a chance to throw the ball because he was sacked by defensive end Darius Alexander.
That was one of seven Giants sacks on the afternoon, including three from first-round pick Arvell Reese. It was Reese’s first road game against the Eagles and his 1-0 record in Philly is a big change from recent history. The Giants had lost 13 straight games in Philadelphia and the route to ending that skid featured some strange twists and turns.
Likely’s touchdown catch came on a throw from Jameis Winston, who replaced J.J. McCarthy after McCarthy hurt his hip in the third quarter. Winston played one full series and threw for 71 yards on his way to the touchdown, but McCarthy returned just before the end of the quarter and led the offense for the rest of the proceedings.
McCarthy was sacked five times, but was 12-of-19 for 127 yards when he had time to throw and he ran for 22 yards while evading pressure over the course of the afternoon. The Giants couldn’t find any other success on the ground and Sunday’s 243 yards of offense didn’t make a strong case for the Giants sitting out the trade deadline if they have a chance to acquire any kind of help for their backfield.
Wide receiver Malik Nabers had five catches for 43 yards, but dropped a pass in the end zone that would have iced the win and his body language was that of an unhappy player throughout the game. The win should make it easier to avoid it being a focal point for the team after the game, but Nabers will likely have to answer some questions about what was bugging him.
They’ll be back on the field Thursday night against the Commanders and another win would move them to 6-2-1 with a 3-0-1 record in the division. That would make them even heavier favorites to win an NFC East that is theirs for the taking.
The Eagles spent a lot of time in that position in recent years, but injuries have gutted the roster and Milton didn’t provide any significant upgrade on the offensive production that the team got with Tanner McKee at quarterback. The Eagles will have a bye week to determine which way they want to go in the future, but the 2-7 team should really only have eyes on 2027 at this point.
