J.J. McCarthy's Hip Pointer Won't Stop the Giants' Thursday Night Chaos

New York Giants quarterback J.J. McCarthy survived an NFC East rock fight with a hip pointer, and the team is fully prepared to throw him right back into the fire on Thursday night.

According to Adam Schefter, the Giants are confident their newly minted starter will be ready for a divisional clash against the Washington Commanders. A hip pointer sounds like something a 65-year-old gets playing pickleball, but in the NFL, it means taking a direct helmet shot to the pelvis and trying to sprint three days later.

The injury happened in the third quarter of Sunday's 19-11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. McCarthy scrambled for a few yards before taking a heavy hit from Zack Baun, forcing him to the sideline after posting a highly efficient 9-of-13 passing line for 101 yards.

Enter Jameis Winston. Because of course Jameis Winston is the backup in this chaotic quarterback room. Winston casually stepped in and orchestrated a 14-play, 76-yard touchdown drive to take a 13-8 lead, allowing McCarthy to return for exactly one handoff to Devin Singletary before calling it a day.

The Giants trading for a Minnesota Vikings castoff to replace an injured Jaxson Dart and immediately throwing him into the starting lineup against the Houston Texans last month was already a wild ride. Now, they are asking him to play through a painful core injury on a short week.

Anyone trying to handicap Thursday Night Football is officially playing with fire. Betting on a short-week divisional game is already a coin flip, but doing it when one quarterback is nursing a bruised hip and the ultimate wildcard backup is lurking in the bullpen requires a special kind of bravery.

Washington is coming off a grinding 20-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, meaning both teams are going to be battered. If McCarthy's hip tightens up on the short flight down to DC, we might just get the full Jameis Winston primetime experience.