Eli says OBJ put boatload of pressure on himself with trip

Eli Manning was much more candid Monday at Giants breakup day in East Rutherford about Odell Beckham Jr.'s lessons to learn - from both his four-catch dud performance in Sunday's 38-13 loss in Green Bay and from last Monday's Miami romp.

“You do things, you've got to back it up,” Manning said of the perception Beckham fought following that trip.

“Maybe (he) put too much pressure on himself,” the QB said of Beckham's pressing in the season-ending defeat.

Manning then revealed that his Tuesday joke to try to relieve pressure from a tense situation over the Miami vacation was basically a form of crisis management.

“At the time you want to make a joke of it, don't make it a distraction,” Manning said. “We're about to go play a playoff game. You want everybody feeling good and feeling right, so. But (we) handled it the proper way to get the best out of our guys.”

Manning's response to the lessons that might be learned from the Miami clubbing and sailing trip?

“You've got to learn that the perception of things makes it different,” Manning said. “You do things, you've got to back it up. And I don't think it had an impact on the game. I thought we had a great week of practice. Guys were making plays and running around and intense and focused and everything (was) good. Unfortunately we just didn't have it yesterday.”

Manning then generally talked about how teams that make the required “sacrifice” and “commitment” normally are the ones that catch the breaks and win.

“You have to understand you can't just think it's gonna happen again and you're gonna make the playoffs again. It's hard,” Manning said. “You got to win close games and you've got to catch breaks, and a lot of things have to go your way, and that comes from the commitment to get better. And I truly believe that when you have a nucleus of guys that start their training early and have the mindset that they're gonna get better and work hard and truly commit and sacrifice for