Offense must Mann up

The Giants’ defense carried them to an 11-5 record and wild-card berth in 2016, snapping the franchise’s fouryear streak of missing the postseason. But Eli Manning knows he and his upgraded offense need to make significant strides if the Giants have any hope of adding another Lombardi to the trophy case.

“We want to get back to where we’re scoring points and being explosive where we can take over a game,” Manning said Tuesday after the Giants’ first minicamp practice. “Last year the defense was playing great. We understood that. We need to do our part. It wasn’t as easy for us last year. But honestly when we’re gameplanning this offseason and when we’re doing things, we’re doing it with the expectation that we need to score a lot of points, and how we can score a lot of points, move the ball and be explosive.”

Last season the Giants finished 25th in total offense and 26th in points per game (19.4.) In 2015 they were eighth in total offense and sixth in points per game (26.3.)

But now they have new weapons in Brandon Marshall and first-round tight end Evan Engram to help boost the’ pass attack along with Sterling Shepard and, of course, Odell Beckham.

Ben McAdoo made a point this offseason of saying Manning and Beckham needed to connect more efficiently as a combination to help the offense thrive. Manning, who said he’s kept in touch with Beckham through calls and texts, said the enigmatic wide receiver didn’t miss much by not being at OTAs.

Manning, 36, is 12 years older than Beckham and says it can take a number of years for young players to figure out what’s needed from them and how to handle things.

“It’s all new to a lot of guys,” Manning said. “I was in the same position years ago and had to go through it, had to mature and realize things and just understand how to handle everything that’s kind of thrown at you. I think (Beckham’s) doing a good job doing that.”

OWA MIA

Owa Odighizuwa remains MIA. The Giants defensive end did not attend the first day of minicamp, and McAdoo said the 2015 third-round pick was excused for “personal reasons.”

The 25-year-old missed all of OTAs after tweeting earlier this spring that he wanted to take a break from football. It’s not clear exactly why he wants to do that, and the Giants haven’t commented on his status. This was shaping up to be a makeor-break offseason for the third-year pro to see whether he’d realize his potential. Romeo Okwara is the returning third defensive end behind the top tandem of Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon, who was in attendance Tuesday after working out in Florida during OTAs.