Tom Rock: John Harbaugh's actions speak louder than words after Giants' trade for QB J.J. McCarthy
Giants coach John Harbaugh looks on against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on Sep. 13, 2026 in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Jim McIsaac
John Harbaugh was asked if he felt the need to say anything to Jameis Winston after the Giants added another quarterback this past week.
Seems logical. The trade for J.J. McCarthy not only brings a backup to the roster in case something happens to Winston but gives them an alternative if Winston continues to struggle in his new role as starter.
Through nearly two full games with Winston running the offense, the Giants have yet to reach the end zone. So naturally it would make sense for a coach to openly communicate with a veteran about the dynamics that lie ahead, right?
“The answer to that,” Harbaugh said briskly of any such conversation, “is no.”
The reality is he didn’t need to.
The Giants’ actions — and we’ve been around this team enough to understand that the team’s actions are Harbaugh’s actions — spoke plenty. No words were required. And they weren’t just a message to Winston, either. Harbaugh’s decisions screamed at the entire team, the entire organization, the entire fan base.
So what exactly did he “say” with the series of decisions made in the time since Jaxson Dart left the field in the Week 2 loss to the Rams with a season-ending knee injury?
That this season isn’t over. This team isn’t over. And he is going to do everything in his power to give the Giants opportunities to fulfill the goals they had when the season began less than a month ago.
It may seem elementary for that to be the case. There are 14 games remaining on the schedule, including Sunday’s home contest against the Cardinals. The Giants are 2-1 and tied for first place in the NFC East with a realistic opportunity to hold it alone by the end of this weekend. No team would come out and declare that it was throwing in the towel at this point.
And yet we can all name a few that have expressed forfeiture through their deeds or inactions.
Few teams would have been as active in illustrating a steadfast philosophy as the Giants have been.
We often look for signs of the changes Harbaugh has brought to the Giants. On the roster where the heights and weights are listed, they are bigger and stronger than they were. On the field where the line of scrimmage is marked, they are more physical than they were. Now we are seeing that behind the scenes, they are much more determined than they were.
That is the John Harbaugh Effect.
When the news about the severity of Dart’s injury first came out last week, there were plenty who saw it and likely reacted with the same downtrodden thoughts: Oh, well. Wait till next year.
There have been many seasons in which teams — the Giants among them — have white-flagged their way through similar circumstances. That’s how they wound up trading away players in the middle of recent forlorn seasons, including when they sent Leonard Williams to the Seahawks and released Daniel Jones. The seasons turned and it was time to start jettisoning big parcels off the sinking vessel.
Harbaugh wasn’t going to wait for 2027, though.
The Giants used future draft capital and traded for McCarthy. They added Jihad Ward to help replace linebacker Brian Burns, who also was lost to a season-ending knee injury. They cut Odell Beckham Jr., a receiver who led the team in having his name chanted by fans but who hadn’t caught a pass in three games.
They did those things because they still believe in themselves. Because Harbaugh still believes in them.
That’s a powerful statement, even when it is unarticulated. Giants quarterbacks Jameis Winston, left, and J.J. McCarthy talk during practice on Wednesday in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
The addition of McCarthy could put some pressure on Winston to perform, and that’s good. It also makes it clear to the rest of the locker room that this organization is not going to idly let misfortune derail its objectives, and that’s great.
It’s a paraphrase of the opening line of the movie “The Departed”: “I don’t want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me.”
Cue the Dropkick Murphys.
McCarthy might never play a game for the Giants. He might play a dozen in the next few months. He might have to be pressed into service on Sunday with a bare-bones understanding of the offense and his new teammates. But he already has impacted this team in a positive way just by arriving here.
By being brought here.
“It’s an opportunity for us to improve, one little way maybe,” Harbaugh said of his addition. “And who knows where it goes or where it doesn’t go.”
After one practice this week, Harbaugh spent a little extra time with team ownership and management before addressing the media. They weren’t talking about roster moves or depth charts or game plans, though. They were discussing weather and music.
Harbaugh said the clear bright skies that day reminded him of the Beatles song “Here Comes the Sun.” He was amazed that some of the younger executives in that confab had no familiarity with the classic tune with the inspiring, uplifting lyrics.
That’s OK.
Not everything has to be heard out loud to be understood.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
