#Giants’ Oshane Ximines is in need of one big moment

“In my career, I’ve noticed guys that just need that one play, that one moment, that one thing that kind of catapults into, ‘Hey, I belong here, I can do this, I need to be able to capitalize on my skill-set,’ ’’ said Giants outside linebackers coach Bret Bielema.

Bielema, previously the head coach at Wisconsin and Arkansas, has seen plenty of young players use that one moment to jump-start their careers. Ximines, in his second year with the Giants, could use that one moment.

There were plenty of encouraging signs from Ximines as a rookie, when he came up with 4.5 sacks — more than the rookie seasons of Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck, combined. Taken in the third round of the 2019 draft out of Old Dominion — the selection, No. 95 overall, was one of the picks the Giants gained in the trade of Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns — the Giants figured Ximines would need time to develop, given his level of competition in college.

So far, the new coaching regime is not all-in on Ximines, an athletic 6-foot-4, 254-pound pass rusher who had 33 sacks in college. He played 41 percent of the defensive snaps against the Steelers, just 29 percent in Chicago and received his most extensive playing time — 44 snaps, for 57 percent — in the 36-9 loss to the 49ers. With the increased workload, Ximines had five tackles, but no quarterback sacks or hits.

“It was a little bit because of what our game plan was and what San Fran brought to the table that got him involved a little bit more,’’ Bielema said. “You look for the silver linings in games like that. He probably played as good as he has at this point. He had a couple of nice things in the run game, but also converted some good rushes against good players, so it was positive to see that. Now you’d like to see that momentum and his confidence continue forward and we’ll see what we get this week.’’

It sounds as if Ximines is buoyed by what he did last week.

“Yeah, it was definitely one of my better games,’’ he said. “I was just putting my best out there every snap like I do always. I feel like I was able to make some plays and I’m just ready to improve and do better next week.’’

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham believes in extensive adjustments on a weekly basis, bending and shaping to what the opponent does best. Lorenzo Carter receives the bulk of the playing time at one outside linebacker spot. Markus Golden thus far has lagged behind. Last week was the first time Ximines got more snaps than veteran Kyler Fackrell, who was signed from the Packers.

“A unique player, a guy I think has a skill-set for the edge that you can really build on,’’ Bielema said. “He had a couple of rushes on Sunday that unfortunately didn’t land that the timing of the ball just came out quickly, but he hit some good pass rush moves that we’ve been working and I think he’s been homing in on and hopefully as a young player like him, sometimes they actually just have to experience it in a game-like situation. It doesn’t matter how many times we do it on the practice field, they got to be able to convert it live on an on the field game experience and hopefully that’s gonna come soon.’’