McAdoo ends fullback experiment as Shane Smith cut

Remember way back when — a few weeks ago — when much was made of the Giants actually carrying a fullback on their roster? The inclusion of rookie Shane Smith indicated Ben McAdoo was taking a do over after not including that position on his 2016 offense.

Well, so much for that. The Giants are last in the NFL in rushing, and Smith never was given much of a role. He did not play one offensive snap in last Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Eagles — not even when the Giants were on the Eagles half-yard line and could have used a battering ram blocker. On Thursday, Smith was released, and once again, there is no fullback on the roster.

“It’s our job now moving forward with the guys we have on the roster to try to find ways to maximize their strengths and try to camouflage and disguise some of our weaknesses,” offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan said.

This means tight end Rhett Ellison — off to a slow start to his Giants career after coming over from the Vikings — will get more work as a blocker out of the backfield.

The Giants signed linebacker Deontae Skinner and defensive end Cap Capi off their practice squad, addressing health concerns that Jonathan Casillas (ankle/wrist) and Olivier Vernon (ankle) might not be able to play Sunday in Tampa — neither practiced Thursday. Linebacker J.T. Thomas (groin) was placed on injured reserve.

Vernon told The Post he got kicked on the side of his ankle vs. the Eagles. “I’ve had worse,’’ he said. Vernon will take it all the way to pregame warm-ups to determine if he is able to play against the Buccaneers.

Casillas had his right wrist wrapped.

“I’m going to try to play, depending on how my body feels,” he said.

Brett Jones, the starting left guard the past two games, was added to the injury report with a hip issue and did not practice.

“Brett’s feeling some tightness in his lower body, and we are just evaluating and seeing where he is right now,” McAdoo said.

If Jones is unavailable, veteran D.J. Fluker, a former first-round pick of the Chargers, is next in line. The Giants coaching staff certainly does not gush about Fluker.

“He’s a strong man, and if we have certain concepts where he’s at the point of attack, that’s been a strength of his in the past,” Sullivan said. “It certainly could be an asset, you could say.”