J.J. McCarthy suffers hip injury in Giants' win over the Eagles

New York Giants quarterback J.J. McCarthy suffered a hip injury Sunday against Philadelphia, leaving the 19-11 win in the third quarter before returning to finish, according to the game account.

Eagles linebacker Zack Baun hit McCarthy on a designed quarterback run. Jameis Winston came on in relief for one drive and threw a touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely that gave the Giants the lead. McCarthy returned ahead of the fourth quarter and finished the game.

The injury comes eight weeks after the Minnesota Vikings traded McCarthy to the Giants for a 2027 fifth-round draft pick, giving up on the 10th overall selection from the 2024 draft after one season as their starter. He had won his first two starts for New York and appeared to be settling in under coach John Harbaugh, the brother of his college coach at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh.

McCarthy missed his entire rookie season in 2024 after tearing the meniscus in his right knee during the preseason opener, becoming the first quarterback selected in the first round to miss a full rookie year to injury. The Vikings had signed him to a four-year, $21.85 million fully guaranteed contract that July, with a $12.71 million signing bonus. He was the fifth of six quarterbacks taken in the first round, tied with the 1983 draft for the most in NFL history.

Named the starter in 2025 after Sam Darnold left for Seattle, McCarthy won his debut against the Bears by overcoming an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit, throwing two touchdowns and rushing for a third. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week and became the first quarterback in NFL history to score three fourth-quarter touchdowns in a debut. Then the season came apart. He threw two interceptions against Atlanta in Week 2, suffered a high ankle sprain that cost him five games, lost three straight after returning, suffered a concussion, and finished the year with a hairline fracture in his throwing hand that sat him for Week 17.

In 10 games, McCarthy completed 140 of 243 passes for 1,632 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and a 72.6 passer rating. He added 181 rushing yards and four scores. The Vikings went 6-4 in his starts. The numbers belonged to a rookie finding his way, but the Vikings had seen enough by the 2026 offseason.

Minnesota signed Kyler Murray and gave McCarthy the chance to compete for the starting job. Murray won it on Aug. 11, and by Sept. 9 the Vikings had demoted McCarthy to third string, behind Murray and Carson Wentz. Three weeks later they traded him to New York for a fifth-round pick, according to his career record.

The Giants needed a quarterback after Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending injury, and McCarthy arrived as the third-stringer behind Winston and Jake Haener. He got his chance in Week 6 against New Orleans, relieving Winston and throwing for 243 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a 34-27 loss. His yardage was the most by a Giants backup since Y.A. Tittle in 1961, and he tied Eli Manning’s franchise record for passing yards in a single fourth quarter.

Harbaugh named McCarthy the starter the following week, and he led the Giants to a 27-21 overtime win over the Texans. Against the Eagles on Sunday, he managed the game well enough to win at Philadelphia for the first time since 2013, snapping a 13-game road losing streak in the rivalry. In four appearances this season, he has completed 43 of 68 passes for 622 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a 91.7 rating.

The Vikings are 6-1 and in first place in the NFC North with Murray at quarterback, according to ESPN. Murray has 1,022 passing yards and five touchdowns. Minnesota hosts Buffalo on Monday night. The team that drafted McCarthy 10th overall and traded him for a fifth-round pick is winning without him.

The Giants are 5-2-1 and in first place in the NFC East, their best start in years. They hired Harbaugh in January after firing Brian Daboll midseason in 2025. The Giants are getting production from a player the Vikings decided they could not use, and they gave up a fifth-round pick to do it.

The Giants have not said whether McCarthy will miss time. He returned to finish Sunday’s game, which suggests the injury is not severe, but hip injuries can stiffen after the adrenaline fades. New York plays Washington in Week 10, and if McCarthy cannot go, Winston would start.

What I think

The Vikings used the 10th pick in the draft on McCarthy. They signed him to a fully guaranteed $21.85 million contract. They traded him 26 months later for a fifth-round pick.

A team decided its first-round quarterback could not play, and it moved on before his third season. The Giants gave up almost nothing and got a 23-year-old quarterback who has won his first two starts.

McCarthy’s college record was 27-1. He won a national championship at Michigan. He was the fifth quarterback taken in a first round that tied the NFL record. None of that carried into the NFL if the production did not follow, and in Minnesota it did not.

The 2025 season was not all McCarthy’s fault. He had a high ankle sprain, a concussion and a hairline fracture in his throwing hand. He played 10 games and missed time in all of them. But the Vikings watched him play and decided they had seen enough. They signed Murray, let McCarthy compete, and when he did not win the job, they traded him.

The Giants are 5-2-1. McCarthy is 2-0 as their starter. The Vikings are 6-1 with Murray. Both teams are winning. The trade worked for both sides, which is rare.

The hip injury is the next question. McCarthy returned to finish the Eagles game, and the Giants have not said he will miss time. But he has now been injured in each of his three NFL seasons. A torn meniscus wiped out 2024. An ankle sprain, a concussion and a hairline fracture in his throwing hand interrupted 2025. The hip is the newest one. The pattern is the concern. A quarterback who keeps getting hurt is a quarterback who cannot hold a starting job, no matter how well he plays when he is on the field.