Wink Martindale has a way with words, and he also leans toward honesty when assessing a situation — as much as he can be forthcoming while discussing strategy and player deployment in the days leading up to a game.

The veteran Giants defensive coordinator was not going to state his unit will be shattered by the loss of safety Xavier McKinney, whom Martindale deemed to be needed for all 506 snaps the Giants spent on defense in their first eight games. He also was not going to insult anyone by declaring McKinney’s absence will be no big deal.

“I think there will be an effect,’’ Martindale said. “It could be a good effect or a bad effect. We’re going to find that out.’’

It is difficult to conceive of any sort of good effect coming out of this bizarre situation. During the bye week, McKinney traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and was injured while riding an ATV, fracturing fingers on his left hand. He is on the non-football injury list and will miss at least the next four games, and likely more than that.

The nature of how this injury occurred led to rampant speculation and criticism on social media. The Giants (6-2), who host the Texans on Sunday, are on the rise, and McKinney’s actions, while inadvertent, could have been avoided had he not engaged in an off-the-field activity  he is actually prohibited from undertaking, in accordance with his contract.

“I mean, yeah, he’s an NFL player, he got hurt during the season, outside the building so yeah, of course there’s gonna be some criticism,’’ nose tackle Dexter Lawrence told The Post. “I support him. I know what kind of guy he is and I know he wouldn’t put himself in a bad position. It’s just a freak accident.

“It’s just unfortunate that something like that could happen. It’s just weird. You never really hear about something like that, but it happened. I’m gonna keep backing him.’’

Julian Love, the other starting safety, will assume McKinney’s role in making the defensive calls after Martindale relays them. Dane Belton, a rookie fourth-round pick from Iowa, is first in line to replace McKinney at safety. Belton’s usage has fluctuated. He had season-highs of 46 snaps on defense against the Panthers and Bears in Weeks 2 and 4, but his playing time decreased in the past two games to 23 snaps at the Jaguars and just 10 at the Seahawks before the bye. Martindale has successfully mixed and matched his personnel, but he really has no choice but to give Belton a much heavier load.

“He’s a really mature kid for being a rookie,’’ Martindale said. “He’s very quiet. You got to get him talking louder and things like that, but I just like how he approaches the game. The plays will come for him because he keeps doing the right thing. He’s not an error repeater — he doesn’t make the same mistake twice. I think as a rookie, he’s ahead of the game.’’

Jason Pinnock, a special-teams contributor with only one snap on defense all season, should also see his role expanded. Landon Collins, an every-down safety in his first tenure with the Giants, figures to get another practice squad activation, but he has been a linebacker and not a safety in his second go-round with the Giants. Life without McKinney is underway.

“I’m upset for him,’’ Lawrence said. “That can happen any time, any day, riding a bike, walking down the street. He definitely has a big role in the defense, but I think he’s done a good job being a leader to the guys behind him, getting those guys ready. I think it will be good to see some other guys come out and step up. They all had a good week of practice, and I think they’ll be ready to go.’’