Truth be told, nobody expected Jameis Winston to start for the New York Giants
this year. That's not to take away from the veteran QB's caliber, but everyone was seated just for the vibes he brought to the team. But with then-QB1 Jaxson Dart sidelined with a season-ending injury, Winston was thrust into the fire unexpectedly. With the QB's 2-1-1 record, John Harbaugh recalibrated and put J.J. McCarthy up to the task.
McCarthy has since been a revelation for the Giants, who led the team to a victory against the Houston Texans last weekend. The veteran Winston, once again, takes a backseat. But he is not too put off by the idea.
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"When you are obsessed with greatness, your circumstances, conditions, and facts, they cannot interrupt what you're obsessed with," the quarterback said on The Jameis Winston Show
. "My desire is to be a Super Bowl LXI–winning quarterback. And no circumstance, condition, or fact can take me off of that.
"So, when I am leading my team from the front lines where I am the starting quarterback or if I'm taking a backseat and leading my team from the second line, I still am desiring greatness, gratitude, success for my team, because what I want for myself, I want for everyone."
Winston's championship ambitions just collided with reality in New York. Stay tuned to see how this quarterback battle unfolds and shapes the Giants' season ahead.
This season, Winston started four (out of six) games and won only two of them. Through those six games, he has posted a completion rate of 57%, 957 passing yards, and seven touchdowns. The Giants pulled Winston out of the New Orleans Saints game after throwing two interceptions.
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McCarthy was trotted out then, and even seemed to put Jaxson's Dart job at threat with his performance.
The Giants lost that matchup. But McCarthy, who only played in the final quarter, racked up 243 passing yards and orchestrated three scoring drives for New York to put up a respectable 27 points against New Orleans' 34.
In the last game against Houston, McCarthy recorded a 71.4% completion rate for 252 yards, leading the Giants to a 27-21 victory. Winston was deployed into the attack briefly for a rushing touchdown.
As things are right now, it looks like McCarthy will be taking the charge at quarterback for the rest of the season. It's been a wonderful ride so far for the quarterback, who was set to sit out his career on the bench had he remained with the Minnesota Vikings
.
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Only in his third season in the league, McCarthy can even contend for the starting quarterback job in the future.
"What gives us the best chance to be our best? Gives us the best chance to play the best offense we can, and I thought Jameis has done a tremendous job," Harbaugh said ahead of the Texans game for which he announced McCarthy as the starter. "Won us games, played well. But as we go forward here, this is going to be our direction, and we think it gives us some good options on offense."
Nevertheless, Winston was still optimistic about his desire. After resuming his backup quarterback role, he understood his position and stayed focused on getting the starting job. But he also took note of McCarthy's skills.
"It is always bigger than an individual piece of the team," Winston said. "So together, we're going to collaborate and find ways to succeed, regardless of the circumstances, conditions, or facts, and that is our focus. We all made the agreement that we signed up to be the best in the division in the hopes to have home field advantage in the playoffs, in the dream and the belief that we can win Super Bowl 61."
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Winston also acknowledged that his job was to lead the Giants to a win. But that didn't happen in the last game that he started. He understood why the front office demoted him. Thankfully, the decision didn't break him.
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