In just one week, the New York Giants went from talking about how Jaxson Dart was going to take down the Los Angeles Rams to now talking about whether JJ McCarthy should start over Jameis Winston.
The Giants officially announced that Dart will miss the remainder of the regular season and will undergo surgery on his knee to repair his MCL and meniscus. Head Coach John Harbaugh revealed that Dart could still return for the playoffs. After seeing the performance of backup quarterback Winston, the team was forced to pivot quickly.
New York finalized a trade with Minnesota, sending over a fifth-round pick in exchange for McCarthy. The former Michigan quarterback and first-round draft pick who won the national championship in 2024 is yet to translate into the NFL.
McCarthy has been injury-riddled ever since he signed an NFL contract. In the preseason of his rookie season, he tore his meniscus, requiring him to miss the entire 2024 season. McCarthy made his debut in 2025 but only started in 10 games. A high ankle sprain, concussion, and a pair of hand injuries sidelined him for eight games. The 23-year-old threw for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. McCarthy has received numerous criticisms from the media over his letdown first season.
One reason McCarthy has been overlooked is the viral attention surrounding his alter ego. He refers to it as “Nine.”
“It really kind of started to show up this year,” McCarthy said in an interview with ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, “and it came about last year during IR. Just never had a full season, where you want to be out there so freaking bad, but you can’t. It was just this built-up anger that was kind of ready to just explode, and I chose to harness it instead of letting it go into a self-destructive kind of way.”
McCarthy now gets a fresh start in New York. Past Minnesota quarterbacks have fared well in “fresh starts.” Sam Darnold, who played for the Vikings for one season in 2024, led the team to a 14-3 record, was let go by the team and he went and signed with Seattle. Darnold then went on to lead the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl this past season. Some may forget that Daniel Jones, after being released by New York in 2024, signed briefly with Minnesota at the end of the season but never saw the field. Jones then went on to Indianapolis, where the team started out 8-2 but he ended up tearing his Achilles in Week 14. Now, McCarthy has a chance to follow a similar path and turn his own career around in New York.
While the Giants are scrambling to figure out their quarterback situation, the attention of New York sports fans turns to the diamond as the Yankees face off against the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series.
In a best-of-three series, all games will be played at Yankee Stadium. The two rivals met last season as New York won the series after losing game one.
Aaron Judge, who missed three months due to a right rib stress fracture and returned to play in early September, went back to the injured list with a calf strain and is not on the roster for the series.
However, Giancarlo Stanton, who has been on the injured list for over five months, has been activated and is expected to serve as a pinch hitter. Stanton historically turns the notch in the playoffs and the Yankees are surely excited that the slugger is back. Stanton batted .279, smashed seven home runs and had 16 RBIs in the 2024 run to the World Series.
Game 1 has Boston’s Payton Tolle facing Yankees’ ace Cam Schlittler. Tolle fared well this season against New York. In his two starts, he gave up just one run on four hits in 18 innings pitched. Schlittler went 2-1 against the Red Sox this year, allowing 11 hits and one earned run in the three starts. He dominated in the do-or-die Game 3 last season, where he threw eightscoreless innings, striking out 12 batters.
Game 2 has Sonny Gray up against Max Fried. Gray went 1-1 against New York this year, giving up three runs on nine hits. Fried went 2-0 against Boston this year, allowing one run on 6 hits in the two starts.
Game 3, if necessary, will feature Ranger Suárez against Gerrit Cole. Suárez went 0-1 in two starts against New York, allowing seven runs and 15 hits. Cole, who typically does not fare well against Boston, lost his lone start against them this year, giving up four runs in 5.1 innings pitched.
Each of the three games is set for an 8 p.m. first pitch on NBC.