NEW YORK — John Harbaugh said he has not spoken to starting quarterback Jameis Winston about the ramifications of adding J.J. McCarthy to the Giants’ quarterback room.

“The answer to that is no,” Harbaugh said Wednesday.

That’s probably because the truth is self-evident: McCarthy will take over at quarterback for the Giants (2-1) at some point. And it will happen sooner if Winston doesn’t start playing better Sunday afternoon against the Arizona Cardinals at MetLife Stadium.

Winston swatted away the Giants’ trade for McCarthy as a reason for urgency on his part.

“I have to play well regardless,” the veteran said. “It doesn’t matter who’s in the building. When you’re the quarterback for the New York Football Giants, you have to give your team a chance to win, and that’s just the business that we’re in.”

But Winston has the lowest quarterback rating (22.9) of all 30 qualifying NFL quarterbacks so far this season. And offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said Thursday that there are mechanical issues Winston has to fix, even if he was thrown into the fire in Week 2 and played in the rain and wind in Week 3.

“I do think it’s a little bit of both,” Nagy said. “There’s a little bit of the sinker ball with a couple of the low throws that he had over the middle of the field. Jameis will tell you that. In pregame, I was out there watching those guys throw and catch in pregame, and it wasn’t easy. It was misting and raining a little bit. But I think Jameis will also be the first to tell you that’s not an excuse.

“Mechanically, Jameis knows to keep that wide base to be able to throw through the throw and be able to make a friendlier catch for some of these passes,” the offensive coordinator said. “And the guys know it. And then there’s some plays there, one actually got tipped. It looked like a bad pass, and it got tipped just a little bit. So in the end, no excuse, we all need to be better, and I think that Jameis is ready for this next opportunity.”

Winston did not seem to appreciate having his skills questioned on Wednesday after beating the Titans and not turning the ball over.

“Honestly, this is how I feel: I feel like a lot of people are surprised that we can win a game in the manner that we did,” Winston said. “Because everyone’s so used to me throwing for 500 yards and throwing interceptions, right? If we were having a conversation about me throwing interceptions and throwing for 300 yards, y’all wouldn’t be asking me a question. But when God allows me to manage a football game, now it’s, does he still have it?”

He defended his physical traits and his arm strength.

“I know what I’m capable of, but also I know what’s required of me,” Winston said. “I can make all the throws. I can do anything I put my mind to. I’m blessed to that point. But at the same time, my job is to give the team the best chance to win.”

Still, Nagy said the bottom line is Winston needs to get the offense in the end zone. So does Nagy, and so do the rest of the offensive players. That’s what is going to relieve pressure on Winston’s job security.

“We need to score touchdowns,” he said. “That’s what’s my job as offensive coordinator. It’s our job as players. I have a ton of trust. And I really feel great about what’s about to happen and what [Winston] can do. And I think he’s got a resume that’s shown that.

“Our players, our coaches, everyone here believes in Jameis, everybody,” he added. “There’s no doubt. We just got to go out there, and we got to do it. And scoring touchdowns will help that confidence.”

It’s worth wondering if the team’s urgency in trading for McCarthy rattles the team’s confidence in Winston, of course. The Giants were extremely urgent in seeking a new quarterback, not just due to Jaxson Dart’s injury but because of how poorly the offense functioned with Winston in Los Angeles.

But veteran tight end Chris Manhertz said the team views it as Harbaugh helping to improve the roster’s depth, not undermining Winston.

“Number one, we all compete for a living,” Manhertz told the News. “So regardless of what the circumstance is or position group is, we’re all competing on a week-to-week basis. And number two, you have to have contingency plans. And I think it’s the job of the guys upstairs to add depth where we need it. and we trust that.

“Unfortunately, Jaxson went down, and that created a void in the position a little bit from a depth standpoint,” he continued. “So I think a move like that — regardless of who it is, whether it’s McCarthy or anybody — it was anticipated that we’d add depth to that position. It’s common sense.”

The Giants trading for a younger developmental quarterback rather than adding a veteran backup nevertheless remains a curiosity, since going in that direction eventually may be incongruent with the team’s original aspirations for 2026.

Still, the team is rolling with it, and Winston has shown a willingness to take McCarthy under his wing. They were stretching together at the end of McCarthy’s first practice on Wednesday, crawling across the grass and talking.

“If he’s attracted to it, I’m open,” Winston said. “What I want for myself, I want for everyone. I think he’s a good kid, and I’m happy to have anyone that’s my teammate. He’s curious. He wants to be great.”

The question now is how quickly Nagy and the Giants’ coaches can get McCarthy up to speed to even be ready to play in a game.

Nagy made clear there is a heavy volume of information that he and senior assistant Greg Roman and the offensive staff are condensing for McCarthy to digest. So he said the “standards and expectations” need to be “fair” for all those involved in getting him up to speed, McCarthy included.

Nagy also didn’t want too much focus on McCarthy, which he didn’t feel was fair to the work Winston is putting in as the current starter.

“I understand the questions on J.J., I get it,” he said. “but I also don’t want to lose sight of where we’re at with the time that we’re spending on Jameis and [backup] Jake [Haener]. So there’s that balance, and I think when you judge that process it’s, OK, what’s most realistic to get [McCarthy] ready to be a backup. That’s where you start, and that’s where we’re at… It’s not going to happen in one or two days.”

For now, it’s tracking towards Haener being the active No. 2 to Winston on Sunday with McCarthy as the emergency third QB. But if Sunday goes south, it’s no secret that McCarthy’s presence on the practice field now functions as a ticking clock on Winston’s time under center.

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