Where J.J. McCarthy, Cam Skattebo injuries stand as Giants face short week

A short week does not give the normal amount of time for rest and recovery, but the outlook is looking promising for two of the Giants’ key players on offense, as far as their availability for Thursday night’s home game against the Commanders.Head coach John Harbaugh said Monday morning that he expects quarterback J.J.McCarthy and running back Cam Skattebo to be available for that game.

Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.McCarthy had to leave Sunday’s game with a hip issue but was able to return to finish out the 19-11 victory over the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

At times, McCarthy looked as if he had trouble moving and running but he was able to scramble for 11 yards to keep a fourth-quarter drive alive that ended with a Dominic Zvada field goal to extend the Giants’ lead to 16-8.“He’s doing well,” Harbaugh said.“We’ll find out more during the course of the day and in a couple of days but it does look like he’s gonna play.

We feel fairly good about that but don’t want to get out over my skis with it, but it seems good so far.”Skattebo was listed as doubtful to play in Philadelphia, dealing with a hamstring injury prior to the bye week when he went down after a 42-yard run in Houston.Skattebo was “very close’’ to going against the Eagles, Harbaugh said, but ultimately Skattebo was made inactive for the game.“We just decided to not take the risk that would go with it,” Harbaugh said.

“There were some things he was gonna be limited just a little bit, maybe that we decided not to go down that road because of the short week this week.”As far as Skattebo’s readiness for this next game, Harbaugh said, “he should be full-go Thursday night.”Jameis Winston came in when McCarthy, after getting hit on a designed run, needed to come off the field.Winston went 6-for-7 for 71 yards on a drive that culminated with Winston’s 5-yard touchdown pass to ...