JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Giants ended Sunday’s 23-17 victory over the Jaguars pounding away on the ground, burning the clock and churning for yards with an offensive line that included rookie Josh Ezeudu at left guard and Tyre Phillips at right tackle.

“Young players that haven’t played a lot of football, in this environment, in a close game,’’ was the way coach Brian Daboll put it.

The shock troops were needed because the Giants were knocked around. They suffered two injuries in the first half to starting offensive linemen, including what could be a significant knee issue for rookie right tackle Evan Neal.

Losing Neal — the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft — would be a major blow to the Giants. Initial thoughts are that Neal does not have a season-ending injury. If it is a sprained medial collateral ligament, Neal would likely be out three to four weeks. The Giants next play in Seattle before their Week 8 bye.

Neal went down on a running play with Saquon Barkley gaining 4 yards and Neal on the grass writhing in pain. He was replaced by Phillips, a 25-year-old who was a 2020 third-round pick of the Ravens out of Mississippi State. He came into the season with 13 starts the past two years. He was signed by the Giants in early September.

Neal was living up to expectations in his first NFL season, coming back from a rough game against the Cowboys in Week 3 to give the Giants what they needed to anchor the right side of their offensive line.

Earlier in the first quarter, the Giants lost left guard Ben Bredeson, who limped off the field with a knee injury and did not return. He was replaced by Ezeudu.

“It’s always tough to see guys go down,’’ Daniel Jones said. “Big players for us and key players for us. But I thought the guys came in, stepped up and played really well. Josh and Tyre did a great job throughout the game.’’

Daboll said there were a few different personnel groups he and offensive Kafka could not use because of the changes along the line and credited offensive line coach Bobby Johnson for making the adjustments on the fly.

Down the stretch, the Giants also used two other seldom-seen offensive linemen, Jack Anderson and Devery Hamilton, as blocking tight ends in the jumbo package. Center Jon Feliciano estimated the Giants ran the same play “like eight times, maybe’’ and Saquon Barkley, with some help from Matt Breida, nearly ran out the clock on the Jaguars.

After a first-down run by Barkley picked up 7 yards, Feliciano made a shoveling hand gesture to the Giants’ sideline, indicating he wanted the coaches to keep feeding Barkley on the ground. The Giants finished with 236 rushing yards — 175 in the second half.

“I was talking trash a little bit,’’ Feliciano said. “When you have a good running game, teams know that, they probably spent all week scheming that up. At the end there, just man-on-man, they know we’re running and we’re going to see who’s the bigger men.”