Giants Are Behind Colt McCoy

If Colt McCoy has to start at quarterback for the Giants Sunday, the team is fully behind him.

Colt McCoy isn’t Daniel Jones.

And that fact isn’t necessarily a bad thing as far as the Giants are concerned.

“Going into this week, the first thing I told him was ‘I’m happy I don’t have to go against you on Friday,’” said inside linebacker Blake Martinez. “We have a fast Friday. He does kind of the whole two-minute drill, all that type of stuff. He tries to do certain plays—no-look passes, all these types of things.”

And apparently, McCoy, an 11-year NFL veteran with 28 career starts, does them well.

“You can see how competitive this guy is,” said Giants head coach Joe Judge. “He’s got a lot of instincts, a lot of savvy. He draws from his experience. He’s a tough dude—he’s mentally tough, he’s physically tough. 

“He’s a guy that’s very well respected on this team, in the locker room, and on the field. The guys really like Colt, they rally around him just like they do Daniel. He’s a guy that puts a lot of confidence in the players in the huddle.”

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That’s all good news for a Giants team that will likely need to turn to McCoy this Sunday when they face the Seattle Seahawks. Although Jones hasn’t officially been declared out, he wasn’t able to practice Wednesday for what Judge described as a hybrid type of workout that included a walkthrough.

All eyes will undoubtedly be on the field Thursday when the Giants plan to go through a more intense day of practice, but the expectation is that Jones, if he practices at all, will be limited.

Either way, McCoy said he’s ready for the opportunity that’s before him.

“I just need to go out there execute and be myself,” McCoy said. “If your number is called, whether it’s quarterback, receiver, on the other side of the ball on defense, when you have to step up, you have to step up. I just have to be mentally prepared for whatever happens.”

McCoy seemed taken aback when told of Martinez’s compliment, chalking it up to just another day at the office. 

“Going against our defense week to week, you get to see a lot of different looks, a lot of different coverages, a lot of different pressures,” McCoy said. “They do a tremendous job. That’s actually been really good for me to see all of those looks. I try to give them the best look I can each week. Those guys play at a high level, so any time you go out there, you better be prepared.”  

McCoy has done just that to where Judge said he feels at ease with either McCoy or Jones running the Giants’ huddle.

“I always talk about you want a quarterback who is going to step in the huddle with 10 sets of eyes looking at him knowing this guy is going to give them the answer,” he said. “I think Colt is that guy and Daniel is that guy. … I have ton of confidence in Colt and I have a ton of confidence in Daniel.” 

McCoy admitted that he was a little bit rusty last week when he relieved Jones against Cincinnati, but he believes he’ll be more prepared to go this weekend if he’s needed.

“I just have to go out there and do my best to execute the plays that are called,” he said. “I’ll do my best if I happen to be out there to make that happen.” 

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