Head Coach John Harbaugh

JOHN HARBAUGH: Alright, good seeing everybody. Appreciate you being here. What questions do you have?

Q: Any deals?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Where's (Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe (Schoen) (laughter)? He's been working on it. We'll see. I think we have about an hour, so I haven't heard of anything yet. No reports. I'll tell you one thing we are thinking about though is the game and very fired up about the White Out. Pretty cool deal. Can't wait to see the fans out there. I know they're going to be loud and excited and it's going to be fun.

Q: How did (quarterback J.J.) McCarthy look today moving around?

JOHN HARBAUGH: He looked good. He looked fine. We practiced, we moved, we were going fast. He looked good.

Q: What happened to (cornerback) Colton (Hood)?

JOHN HARBAUGH: He got his finger dislocated. He was doing a pooch punt early in practice and landed on his finger and got dislocated, so they had to go in, but it was a tough one to get back in, so it took a while to get him back in, but he'll be fine.

Q: Good to see Skattabo (running back Cam Skattebo) back out there?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Skattabo back out there, he was moving well.

Q: A trade like the Jaguars made for (Jacksonville Jaguars defensive lineman) Jordan Davis yesterday, when a team is spending that much on a player, is there a chance that today less gets done on your end because the prices get too high?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I think that's something to think about for sure. I don't know if one thing leads to another or not, but there were a lot of high prices over the last week or so, so it certainly impacts. Do high prices impact the market? Is that kind of how the economy works, economics (laughter)?

Q: John, you mentioned just the other day about weighing the long-term, short-term, and you kind of said, well, the now takes precedence, if possible, right? The now. So, if there's not a big move or a move made, it's not for a lack of trying, obviously, but if nothing happens, what do you say about the now? Is it you just couldn't get it done, or is it disappointment that you couldn't help for the now?

JOHN HARBAUGH: The now would be that it was better not to make a deal than to make a deal. You don't want to make a bad deal. You make a bad deal, that doesn't make you better. That makes you worse. Sometimes the best deal is a deal that you don't make, and that goes to weighing it out. To me, if it's a 50-50 thing on whether you make a deal or not, in terms of what you've got to give up, we're willing to pay a price to make our team better, but it's got to be something that really makes our team better, and it's got to be worth it. So, if we don't make a deal, it'll be because we didn't have anything that we felt good enough about that way.

Q: John, you had said when you had made the quarterback switch a couple weeks ago, you didn't feel the need to make a big statement in a team meeting or anything like that. You just went on for the week, and the guys figured it out. With the trade deadline, is it something where you feel the need to address the team after a trade deadline scenario, or will it be the same take for you that we just move on to tomorrow and not even?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I don't feel the need to even bring it up. The guys know that the business part of it is the business part of it. They know that there's probably, I'm sure they read about the trades, and they're like fans. They read about it. Hey, did you see this, did you see that. But the focus is on the game, and that's all we're talking about is the game. It's exciting. It's what we do this for. We don't do it for the trades. We do it for the games. And so, as a team of coaches and players, you definitely focus on the game.

Q: John, this would be J.J.'s first home start. He's been through a lot already with the team, but it's his first home start. So, what can you tell him about playing in front of the New York Giants fans from your small sample?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I hadn't thought about it. That's a great question. I'm probably going to have to think about that. Maybe someone else is better to talk to him about that. (quarterback) Jameis (Winston) or (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart), probably one of those guys, would be best to talk to him about that, and maybe I'll ask them to do that but he'll be ready. He's played in a lot of big stadiums before, and he'll love our fans. I can tell him that. I can tell him that. He's going to love our fans.

Q: John, you talk about 1-0 every week. Leek (wide receiver Malik Nabers) was just up here saying, though, this week's kind of like a 2-0 week if you win, because of what it means in the division. Can you talk about that and this game having a little more meaning because of the last game against Washington?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Well, that's a really good point. You must be a math guy. If you think about it, I did mention that to the team. If you won the first game, it's either you're a game ahead or you're even. If you lost the first game, you're either even or a game behind if you win. But this is for all the marbles. It's a tie right now. This is the tiebreaker. It's like going to the second half tied, you have a chance to go win the game right now and be one up on these guys for the rest of the season. So, it's a big game.

Q: How did you do the game planning? How did you handle the two games in four days thing, and then with the bye week, did you do all the work beforehand as the coaches? Did you bring it up to the players, this game, before yesterday? How did that kind of work?

JOHN HARBAUGH: We talked about the two games in five days. We had the guys prepared in that sense. The coaches were prepared through the bye week for two games. That was part of the process. We had an idea, but you don't know exactly what you're going to do until yesterday, but we kind of had the game plan.

Q: Why is that? You're adjusting based on the results of this past weekend?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Exactly. Exactly. So yeah, I feel like we were prepared and ready to go. We put most of the game plan in yesterday and got a chance to walk through it yesterday and practice today. We still have over 48 hours. I told the guys, it's all hands-on deck. On a short week like this, it's all hands-on deck. Everybody, all the time, every second, get ready for this game because it comes fast, but that's how you get prepared.

Q: When it comes to the deadline, and sometimes people see it as when you make a move, it's a belief in your team that they can achieve something greater because you're adding at this time of year. Knowing what the market is, how do you balance that with showing these guys, telling these guys, hey, I believe we can do something special here?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I would say you could just as well make the case that you're showing guys belief in your guys that you can do something by keeping all the guys you got. We love our guys and we feel like we have everything we need to go accomplish everything we want to accomplish. Now we just got to go do it.

Q: John, you've got a very good record in Baltimore in short weeks. Anything to that, you think? I mean, you had goods team most of those years.

JOHN HARBAUGH: The main thing is that, but no, I think there is something to it. I do think we have a really good plan for it and we're working that plan this week here and expect to see our guys go out there and play excellent football on Thursday night. Now we've got to go do it. You can expect it, think about it, hope for it all you want. You've got to go do it, but it's been a good week of prep. They've been locked in, they've been focused, they've worked hard and we're just basically halfway through. We'll see what happens Thursday night.

Q: John, how do or do you intend to re-engage the Colts on taking a big swing for a playmaker?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Have I? No, I haven't. I'm not going to. I'm not going to make a call. You asked me if I'm going to text or call somebody? No, I'm not, the Colts.

Q: Do the Giants intend to take one more swing at the Colts?

JOHN HARBAUGH: That's a good question. I don't really know. I'd have to ask Joe that. I know Joe's been working. I would say this. I would say he probably has all day. I think we've been calling all the different people throughout the last two days. I do know that. I don't know specifically which calls he's made. I can't really speak to that for sure because I haven't been talking to him for the last few hours, but we've got about 55 minutes.

Q: You don't seem in any rush right now.

JOHN HARBAUGH: I'm not making the calls this time.

Q: How much of a desire do you have, though, would you have to make it to add a playmaker to the mix?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I'd be excited. The right guy. My excitement level would be based on who the player is. You get the right player, then you're really excited. I wouldn't be excited for the not right player. There's players you love and players you like. I would want a player that we love.

Wide Receiver Malik Nabers

Q: We all read your tweet. What more do you want to say about that narrative?

MALIK NABERS: As far as speaking about who I was intending on the message to be received by, I think I said all I wanted to say. I just feel like the narrative on me is always all the bad body language things that people have been saying about me. But as far as that, if it's a problem with anybody, the cameras can stay off me. The thing about it is, don't tell the world something that's not me. I'm (going to) speak up for myself all the time because there's nobody else that's going to be able to speak up for me. So, I'm going to use my own voice and be able to speak up about me being a bad teammate. And I felt like that was just a lie, just attacking my character as a football player and as a teammate. Like I said, I've never been on a team where anyone has called me a bad teammate that I know of. So, I would just (inaudible) on that too because I couldn't speak up for myself during the game when these things were said about me. I felt like after the game when I got the opportunity to hear those things, I had to speak up about that because those things (are) just not true. And as far as just the bad body language thing, everybody's always talking about my body language. Like I've said, my body language is the same all the time. Whether I'm having a good game, bad game, losing, winning. You can go (to) games and you can see it for yourself if you want to go look. But as far as the bad body language and things being said that I was saying on the sideline – especially from people that's watching the game, they don't know what's going on down on the field. So, you don't know what is being said, you don't know if I'm mad, you don't know if I'm not. That's just really everything on it; is my body language is the same all the time. My facial expression is the same all the time. I think a lot of people just don't know that because they don't know me. And that's okay, that's okay. But just don't tell the world who I am if you don't know who I am. I just felt like I had to speak up for myself about that.

Q: Did he (FOX Analyst Greg Olsen) reach out to you, or do you feel like you'd like to have a conversation with him?

MALIK NABERS: I think that was two days ago, three days ago and I'm focusing on the game right now. If he wants to reach out, he can reach out and we can have a simple conversation. But as far as – I've said what I said about the situation, I'm done with it.

Q: How would you describe your body language? You say it's always the same. How would you describe what it is?

MALIK NABERS: I would say during the game, my body language is I'm a competitor. One thing about it is that I'm an ultimate competitor in whether it's going (well) or if it's going bad. If I make a play, my body language is I'm a mean guy, raging, slapping my helmet, screaming, never really smiling, but that's just how I play the game of football. I put a lot of stuff into it. I had to put a lot of great work in to get back on the field. I feel like I hold everybody to that standard to play just like that, play mean. It was (the) bye week and we came off flat, we came off slow. And I was just trying to set an example of like, let's get everybody going and my way of getting everybody is going, it's not going (to) everybody tapping them on the leg and being nice. No, it's a game like, wake up, let's go. I'm an aggressive person when it comes to this football stuff because I've got a lot of passion for it. And I don't feel like everybody knows that about me. They think my bad body language is me just not caring or I'm frustrated. No, it's just passion for the game. I put a lot of effort into it and that can come off to anybody how they want to speak to it as far as that but like I said, it's not hurting anyone. It's not hurting the team. We won the game. And it got everybody able to (get) going, we scored a touchdown and everything was going great in the second half. So, I'm not (going to) speak on the bad body language because it hasn't affected the team at all.

Q: What is preparation like for you this week on a short week? We know your road back. And now it's another challenge, I would imagine, with not as much time in the practice field and having to come back on Thursday.

MALIK NABERS: Yeah, I would just say just (giving input) on how my body feels to the trainers and coaches. The team needs me out there, whether it's a short week, long week but I'm going to continue to fight through anything I've got to fight through just to be able to be out there to get time with the QBs. But I'm also (going to) tell the trainers how I'm feeling and stuff like that. I'm going to take everything and do everything I've got to do to be prepared for this game.

Q: You guys have already said you guys want to go 1-0 every week. But with this being a division game and after winning last week, how much more goes into this game knowing that you guys want to get another division win going into this weekend?

MALIK NABERS: Yeah, like we've said, we want to go 1-0 but this game is more than 1-0. It's 2-0, just because the last game ended out in a tie that we should have had. So, both of us are fighting to get this game. We're trying to go 2-0 since we lost the last one, well, since we finished off in a tie last time, which we should have won. But this game is the same as importance as every game, we're going to try to go out there and give our best shot to get this dub.

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy

J.J. MCCARTHY: It's good to see you all. Felt like we had a great practice today. Obviously, a short week. This is the first one for me. I'm just really impressed with the way (Head) Coach (John) Harbaugh has handled going about these Thursday night games. The guys are prepped, ready to go, and we're going to continue to just keep preparing until Thursday night comes. I'll open it up to any questions.

Q: You're going to play on Thursday night?

J.J. MCCARTHY: Yes, sir.

Q: How are you feeling moving around and stuff like that, and compare it to what you felt Sunday during the game?

J.J. MCCARTHY: I feel really good. Obviously, Sunday, it's football, it's a physical game, but just credit to the athletic training staff, getting me back to feeling really good as quick as possible.

Q: Did you come out of Sunday and when you get back up here with a plan for yourself, knowing how much you would have to do to make sure you're feeling your best on Thursday?

J.J. MCCARTHY: Yes, sir. That's every week. Just being able to have a great team around me, so blessed, so fortunate, here and outside of the facility. It adapts every week to the aches and pains, and I felt like we did a really good job so far, and we've got to continue.

Q: J.J., obviously when you made that throw on the sideline, it looked like you were in a ton of pain. Why was it important for you to get back out there in that game, knowing you had a game on Thursday too, maybe that you could have been resting up for?

J.J. MCCARTHY: The importance is to be out there as much as I possibly can. No matter what happens, no matter what narratives one can draw, it's being out there with my brothers and doing whatever I can to help the team be successful.

Q: Have you thought about what it's going to be like for you to run in that stadium for the first time as a starting quarterback for the Giants?

J.J. MCCARTHY: I haven't thought about it until now, but I'm just so blessed to be a part of this team. I say it over and over again, and I just can't thank the Giants organization and the fanbase for welcoming me. At the end of the day, it's running out there to do my job at a high level and go get a win on Thursday night. That's the only thing I care about, so just being able to embrace that, soak it up but at the end of the day, it's about that first play.

Q: You have to control the emotions early, right? Do you allow the emotions at some point before the game get to you, or do you let it just kind of flow the way it goes?

J.J. MCCARTHY: You have to. In order to really let go of those emotions, you have to accept them, let them be, and then let them go. Just being able to be real with yourself and realize they're human emotions, it's completely natural. That's when you have the ability to let them go and kind of move past them as quickly as possible. If you try to avoid them and resist them, then they just tend to linger.

Q: Does it feel like you've still been here for a very short time, or does it feel like you've been here for a while now?

J.J. MCCARTHY: It feels like I've been here for a while. I just love every single day, just trying to stay as present as possible and soak up every single moment here.

Q: Have you been following what has been going on with your former team?

J.J. MCCARTHY: To be honest with you, no. I mean, obviously, they're one of the 32 teams out there, but all I'm focused on is Giants and who we're playing that week.

Q: Did you take a look at the game last night?

J.J. MCCARTHY: Yes, I heard about the game, but at the end of the day, those are my former brothers and a lot of relationships that I still have to this day. I wish them nothing but the best, but at the end of the day, all I'm focused on is Washington.

Q: Did you hear they added a quarterback today?

J.J. MCCARTHY: I did not hear that, no.

Q: Kirk Cousins…

J.J. MCCARTHY: Kirk Cousins? He's going back. I wish him nothing but the best of luck, and I know he's loved in that building, so he'll be a great fit.

Q: What are the biggest obstacles you face on a short week?

J.J. MCCARTHY: Being my first one, just finding that new routine. Obviously, it's about the preparation and knowing your stuff over everything. It's really nice to have a division opponent, especially (Commanders Defensive Coordinator) Daronte (Jones). I have so much respect for him and just being with him in Minnesota in the past and seeing what he's doing with these guys, it's really cool, and just being able to really hone in on the game plan is the number one thing, but at the end of the day, it's getting the body turned over and just going out there and playing fundamentally sound and blocking, throwing, catching, all the things that move the football down the field, and that's really what we're focused on.

Q: You watch this defense, or at least some semblance of it, every day for a couple of years over in Minnesota. Does that help you with your familiarity on a short week?

J.J. MCCARTHY: For sure. Just seeing the similarities on tape and understanding what their defensive philosophy is, it helps a lot, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. We've got to execute, we've got to do our 1/11th every single play and attack them in any which way we can the way we're being asked to do so by Coach Nags (Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy).

Q: What's your process been for creating and establishing chemistry with the receivers and other skill players?

J.J. MCCARTHY: Getting to know them on and off the field, just really talking with them in the locker room, just really understanding their perspective when they're running the routes, 'hey, what did you see here, how did that feel,' and just kind of overdoing the communication. Obviously, getting the reps on the field as well, but really just talking to them as much as possible.

Q: Are you a look-ahead to the weather guy to see what it's going to be like? It could be some nasty, rainy weather on Thursday night.

J.J. MCCARTHY: You take a peek at it, but at the end of the day, we don't let external circumstances dictate how we're going to perform each and every snap. Whatever it is, however we've got to adapt, but what is required is what we're going to go out there and do. We're just focused on today, and that's it.

Q: We have 46 minutes until the trade deadline. The narrative they say is if the team adds somebody, the front office really believes in you guys if they get somebody. If the Giants do nothing at the trade deadline, would that be disappointed in the locker room? Will that be, hey, they believe in us as it is? How will you guys react to the trade deadline in 45 minutes?

J.J. MCCARTHY: One of the things I love the most about this team is we're just so hell-bent on focusing on that next moment and staying present. Not letting things outside of our control dictate how we're going to operate. At the end of the day, I feel like that's exactly how we're going to approach it, regardless of if we add someone or not. That's how we're going to go about it.