Tight end Engram struggles in return to action

The return of Saquon Barkley was a central theme Sunday for the Giants, but another key offensive player was back on the field. Tight end Evan Engram, after missing one game with a sprained knee, was in the lineup but struggled as the Giants lost to the Cardinals 27-21.

Engram was targeted five times on passes but came away with only one catch for 6 yards. He had a terrible drop in the second quarter on what should have been at least a 24-yard reception.

Later in the game, Engram got his eye poked inadvertently when Terrell Suggs stuck his finger inside Engram’s face mask, completing a rough afternoon.

“I got to play better,” Engram said. “I got to be better for my team.”

➤ Safety Michael Thomas produced points for his team when his blocked punt was recovered by Eli Penny in the end zone for a touchdown. Penny actually beat Thomas to the ball. “Would I have loved the trifecta? Of course,’’ said Thomas, hoping for also the recovery and the TD. “I was trying to get there, but I was happy Elijah Penny got on it because we needed those points.’’

The last time the Giants blocked a punt for a touchdown was more than six years ago, when Damontre Moore made the block and Cooper Taylor got the score against the Raiders on Nov. 10, 2013.

➤ Down 24-14, the Giants had a chance to cut the deficit to one score with 1:07 left in the third quarter, but Aldrick Rosas missed a 37-yard fieldgoal attempt in the rain.

“I thought the whole operation was good,’’ Rosas said. “Ball just kind of stayed straight on me. Pregame, it was kind of drawing a bit. I felt like it came off clean and it kind of just stayed straight right off that post.”

➤ Pat Shurmur lost a challenge when he angrily threw down the red marker protesting a pass interference call on Janoris Jenkins. It appeared as if receiver Trent Sherfield initiated contact with Jenkins down the field, but the call was not overturned, continuing a league-wide trend when it comes to non-reversals of pass interference penalties. It was a costly penalty, as it gave the Cardinals 25 yards.

➤ How rare was what Chase Edmonds did to the Giants? He became just the second player in the past decade with three rushing touchdowns of 20 or more yards in the same game. Doug Martin of the Buccaneers was the last to do it, Nov. 4, 2012 versus the Raiders.