Eli Manning, backup quarterback of the New York Football Giants, fired off a text to his father, Archie, after meeting on Wednesday morning with John Mara.

“We missed a couple of times today, I think his mother’s talked to him. But he did text me — typical Eli — he said, ‘Yessir. I met with John Mara,’ ” Archie Manning told The Post on Wednesday night.

“And he said: ‘It went well.’ So that’s Eli, that’s about as deep as he goes on stuff.”

Archie was asked about a possible reunion next season with Jaguars executive vice president Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville.

“I just don’t know,” Archie said. “We certainly hadn’t talked about beyond this year. No one knows what’s gonna happen after the next five games. You just don’t know. Eli can only just look at all that when the time comes.

“And y’all know him, you know he’s not talking about that. He’s always said and he’s been sincere, he loves playing for the Giants, and I’m sure he’d love to keep playing.

“If the season’s over, if that’s not a possibility, then you go to Plan B, and I don’t know what that is.”

Archie endured seasons like this as a Saint. So he can commiserate with his youngest son. “A season from hell” is how Archie described it.

“I’d hate to see it end with a season like this,” he said. “But you just don’t know. You work, you play, you see what the offseason brings, and then you deal with it. He’s always been pretty good about that, just not getting too far ahead, not getting too excited, not getting too down. … Easy E.”

Easy E has suffered through a season from hell mostly in silence.

“Eli’s been grinding and trying to keep this thing together,” Archie said. “He doesn’t call up and ask for advice. He hadn’t complained to me one time the whole year. He just keeps grinding.”

And getting knocked down, and getting back up.

“He’s been beat up a little bit this year, had a few MRIs, but that happens,” Archie said.

But having his beloved team unceremoniously taken from him had never happened until now.

“I think what makes it so hard is that Eli loves playing for the Giants,” Archie said. “I’m not gonna say I loved playing for the Saints or more than Peyton loved playing for the Colts or more than somebody loves. … I’m not saying that. He sure loves playing for the Giants. He’s just always been so damn passionate about it. It just broke his heart. But that’s OK. It’s part of football, it’s part of life.

“Everybody’s fine.”

Father and son spoke Tuesday morning. That’s when Eli told him he wasn’t interested in what he called “the token start” to keep his 210-game ironman streak going.

“I saw the little press thing in front of his locker,” Archie said. “I knew that was tough. And I was just told when he kinda got back home and settled down, he heard from a lot of people. I heard from a lot of people — the coaches, the quarterbacks, the announcers and friends. When he gets those type of emails and texts, it makes you emotional. I think that’s pretty normal.”

Archie chuckled and said he could not repeat what Peyton’s reaction had been, as he and older brother Cooper both called their baby brother offering support. Eli seemed to have the most measured response out of the whole family. Archie credits wife Olivia for raising such a class act.

“I’ve never been prouder of him,” Archie said.

Asked why, he said: “Just because of the way he’s handled it. He’s taken the high road.

“He’s a big boy, he’s a man. He knows he has a lot of things to be grateful for, and he’ll handle this. I promise you he will handle this. That’s a good feeling as a parent knowing that he will.”

Olivia spoke Wednesday with Eli and wife Abby.

“Olivia’s biggest concern of course is him and Abby,” Archie said. “Olivia and Abby are real close. It’s tough on a spouse. You got little girls in school, you know? But it’s part of it. It’s life. It’s football. Everybody’s strong around here, so we’re gonna be fine.”

Archie feels the Giants’ pain, and New York’s as well.

“This is tough on ownership, this is tough on management, this is tough on coaches, it’s tough on players,” he said. “It’s tough on fans. It’s tough on media. It’s not the fun side of football. It’s just awful. The sun’ll come up, and we’ll all get through it.

“It’s not cancer. It’s not death. It’s not war. You handle it and you move on.”