NEW YORK — John Harbaugh told Odell Beckham Jr. during their extended spring courtship that he dreaded possibly having to cut OBJ if a return to New York didn’t work out.

But Beckham told Harbaugh the coach didn’t have to carry that burden. He is here to earn his place, whatever the consequences.

“I like it this way,” Beckham said after practice Wednesday. “I feel like it’s gonna elevate me. It’s gonna bring me up to have to earn it. Coach and I talked about that. I think that was one of his fears. He was like, ‘I love you so much, and I got so much respect for you. I don’t want to bring you here and then have to cut you’ or whatever.

“And I’m like, ‘Listen, I’m going out on my sword either way it goes,' ” Beckham said. “So if that’s what you gotta do when you see I’m not at my best or a fit, then by all means I’m good with it. I can live with it. I can’t live with sitting at home not doing it. I just couldn’t do it. It’s not who I am.”

Beckham, 33, had to get back on the grass, back with the team that he referred to as “my squad,” a return that gave him “a pretty surreal feeling” as he walked back onto the practice fields of East Rutherford, N.J., and looked across the parking lot at MetLife Stadium.

He’s here for one last push at greatness, at contributing to victory in New York, after all the injuries he’s endured and all of his history as a lightning-rod former Giants star.

“The way that I had to walk away was just unsettling in my soul, in my spirit,” he said. “I’ve never surrendered or quit or given up on myself. It wasn’t sitting with me well. So I have to do this. This is for myself. This is for my son. I want to lead by example. I want him to be able to see who I am, not, like, who I was. And just know that we never give up.”

So Beckham said he would be “pushing it to the limit” during this short spring and summer, and that’s what he tried to do on Wednesday with mixed results.

His first target from Jameis Winston was a deep shot down the left sideline. Corner Deonte Banks physically wrestled the ball away in tight coverage, and Beckham took the worst of the contact as both players landed on the grass.

Beckham took his helmet off and was grabbed his nose and shaking off the hard landing before trotting back to the huddle.

“You know, people don’t wanna get beat by me, so they’re gonna make sure they do what they can,” he said with a smirk. “But it feels good. It’s football. It’s been a minute. I’ve been missing it. I’m happy to be here.”

He responded to that incompletion with a nice catch over the middle after sitting down in zone coverage, reaching high over his head and left shoulder to secure a Winston throw.

Then he had to take care of himself on a Brandon Allen hospital ball over the middle that safety Raheem Layne stepped up and nearly intercepted.

Veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster, another recent signing, had a more productive day and looked comfortable over the middle.

Beckham said all the metrics say he’s still explosive and physically capable. It’s just about shaking off the rust of not playing a regular season football game since 2024.

“We got a lot of measurements and numbers, and I look at all the numbers and I’m still just as fast, faster,” he said. “It’s just about being back in football.”

OBJ did agree he should have plenty to offer young Giants star Malik Nabers as a mentor who went through plenty of ups and downs in his time in New York.

“We know what kind of player he is,” Beckham said. “So however I could help him, anybody else, trust me, I know all the things to do and I know the things not to do.”

He’s most excited, though, to try to bring a Lombardi Trophy home for John Mara and the Giants franchise that kept its arms open to his return home.

“We had been in touch over the years, and seeing him and now seeing the kids and them grown up, I remember them when they were all in kids jerseys,” Beckham said. “Being able to be here and see Mr. Mara, I want to win it, but I want to do it bad for this family.”

“This family brought me in, gave my first opportunity, so many amazing memories,” he added. “My life was here, and I never thought I’d be anywhere else. Even to have the opportunity to put a jersey and a helmet back on…”

Beckham trailed off.

“Actually,” he said, “I left one of my helmets here. It had dust on it.”

He dusted it off. He’s a Giant again. He’s ready to make the most of it. And even if it doesn’t work out, he’ll feel better that he gave it one last try.

Harbaugh: ‘Let’s go, Knicks!’

Harbaugh put a Knicks hat on at the podium and cheered “Let’s go, Knicks!” ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

“It’s exciting,” Harbaugh said. “Watching the way they play is fun, because I think it’s instructive. You get an opportunity to see how a team can come together and operate at its highest level.”

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence because they understand where everybody’s gonna be at all times,” he added. “It’s like a coach’s dream when you watch a team play the way they’re paying. Fun team to watch. Let’s go get a win.”

Harbaugh said he would like to go to an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden but quipped: “You gotta get tickets! It’s a tough ticket.”

The Giants’ coach admitted the obvious: The Knicks fever that has engulfed the region is what the Giants are chasing.

“It’s been exciting because obviously you envision that, you kinda get a little selfish,” Harbaugh said. “You want to see that for the Giants. It’d be something we’re working for. We’d like to get there, too.”

Sauls has rough day

One day after the Giants cut veteran kicker Jason Sanders, left-footed incumbent Ben Sauls made only 6 of 12 field-goal attempts during Wednesday’s practice.

He missed six of 10 in one stretch. He sank two kicks from 33 yards, one from 38 and one from 43 while missing twice from 47, twice from 45, once from 38 and once from 43.

He closed the practice with makes from 41 and 37 yards, but this was a concerning display and should be a great sign for undrafted rookie Dominic Zvada, the only other kicker remaining on the roster.

Harbaugh said Sanders was released because “it’s windy out here” and “his style might not be a perfect fit for here really right now.” The Jets then signed Sanders on Wednesday afternoon and released Younghoe Koo, another former Giant, to keep him in New Jersey.

Overall on Wednesday, the Giants’ defense was dominant, with Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Dennard Wilson’s secondary blitzes, Arvell Reese and Jevon Holland and others overwhelming Jaxson Dart’s offense.

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