NFL

Time’s up: Giants dump Super countdown calendar

The Super Bowl countdown clock is gone from the Giants locker room, along with any playoff hopes. Maybe they can replace it with a training camp calendar — it’s only 226 days away.

The clock was actually a calendar general manager Jerry Reese had put in the back corner of the locker room, one that counted the days until their ultimate goal — the Super Bowl in MetLife Stadium. But few seemed particularly motivated by it, and after the Giants were eliminated with Sunday’s loss to San Diego, he had it taken down.

“It just lets us know where our season’s at,’’ said a resigned Andre Brown. “As a man — as a person, a part of this team — you still want to go out there and put your best foot forward and make sure you go out and make plays. That’s all you can control now. We’re playing for pride, to ruin people’s dreams or home-field advantage or just mess stuff up. That’s what we’re going to go out there and do.’’

For the moment, that’s trying to upset visiting Seattle on Sunday, and ruin the Seahawks’ dreams of home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs — and to the Super Bowl on Feb. 2, in the Giants’ own stadium.

Big Blue hoped to be the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium, but lately the Super Bowl countdown calendar was mocking them more than it ever motivated them. After being eliminated last Sunday, it would have simply served as a clear-cut reminder the 5-8 Giants had failed to reach their goal.

“I guess so. I think it’s been clear-cut example since we lost last week,’’ Victor Cruz said. “But we didn’t need a number on a board to distinguish what we want, what our goals were. They were already clear-cut in front of us, and we didn’t get it done. But it is what it is at this point.

“It doesn’t have an effect. From the outside looking in, I guess you could say it’s the final piece saying that our chances are gone; but it didn’t really affect us. We knew what our goals were, whether [Reese] put that up there or not. We knew exactly what we needed to do.’’

It was a symbolic capitulation, an organizational admission of being eliminated by Sunday’s loss, coupled with wins by Arizona, Philadelphia and San Francisco. When a cranky Tom Coughlin was asked before practice Wednesday if the clock was still there, he replied, “I don’t know, you tell me.” Asked if he planned to remove it, he answered, “I didn’t put it up, so I’m not taking it down.’’

It was Reese that put it up, and the GM that took it down. But most of the Giants said they did not pay much attention to the calendar when it was up, nor did they notice its absence.

“I didn’t even notice it was down. I didn’t really notice when it was up either,’’ said Eli Manning, whose locker is in the same corner of the room, no more than 25 feet away. “It’s not in our locker. I don’t notice a lot of things that are on that board. It’s not something I look at or paid attention to, or looked at what number day it was on. It was up there, and kind of just left it at that.’’

Other players, including Cruz, Kevin Boothe, Spencer Paysinger and Antrel Rolle also hadn’t noted the calendar’s absence.

“No, I didn’t notice it. It has no reason to be up right now. As players we understand what we’ve created here for ourselves, which is not a chance to go into the postseason,’’ Rolle said. “But right now that’s not everything. We have a lot to play for. … We’re professionals.’’