CLEVELAND, Ohio — When Odell Beckham Jr. walked through the doors for the start of the offseason program Monday morning in his psychedelic hat and coat, Freddie Kitchens was feeling groovy. And even when Beckham walked out in the evening to board a plane back to New York, the coach didn’t let his euphoria fade.

“Like I told you guys a couple of weeks ago, Odell didn’t know that he was going to be in Cleveland up until three weeks ago,’’ Kitchens said Monday at the start of the offseason program. “He has some things to tie up, but he thought that it was important enough to be here (Monday). So he was here for his teammates, for himself and for his coaches and things like that. My hat is off to him. He told me something a couple of weeks ago, and he made it work. He had to go through some hoops to get here, but it was important enough for him to be here.”

Kitchens acknowledged that Beckham won’t be a full-time participant in the nine-week program, at least early on.

“We don’t really know the specifics right now, but he won’t be here continually right now,’’ he said. “He’ll be back and forth, but he has some things he has to tie up, and we’re getting all of that in order now.”

Beckham, who was in Europe when the trade went down on March 12 and only returned recently, wouldn’t have had to show up for the Giants’ offseason program until April 15, same as for other teams without a new head coach. But he took his cue from his friends on the Browns and helped kick off the program with a bang.

“It’s just the first day,’’ Beckham said Monday. “We want to set the tone. I don’t know exactly my offseason plans. I usually train in LA, but I definitely want to be able to be here and create that bond, that relationship with the new teammates, coaches, everybody, just so you can kind of see who I am exactly, but I just thought it was important to be here (Monday). ... I had to come see my guys.’’

Kitchens said he didn’t twist Beckham’s arm to show up on day one.

“That was Odell’s (choice),’’ said Kitchens. “This is all voluntary. I didn’t encourage anything. Odell knows what’s at stake. He knows what he needs to be here for. This is strictly voluntary. If we wanted to critique people for not coming and coming, then we should make it mandatory as a league. It’s not mandatory. Would I hold a grudge if he’s not going to come? No, I wouldn’t.’’

Kitchens was reminded that some coaches consider the voluntary program to be mandatory.

“Are you saying they’re right and I’m wrong?’’ Kitchens asked with a laugh. “I’m saying that (those coaches) are breaking the rules. And you know, they aren’t here.”

His expectations for Beckham this offseason?

“Just to continue to get better as a person and as a player, and you do that by studying film and things like that."

Last offseason, Beckham attended the extra minicamp awarded to Giants first-year head coach Pat Shurmur and the start of Organized Team Activities. He was then in and out of OTAs while primarily training in Los Angeles. OTAs consist of 10 practices over four weeks with no live contact but offense vs. defense permitted.

In 2017, he skipped the voluntary program, including OTAs while training in L.A., and arrived for the mandatory minicamp in June. Back then, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that he stayed away because he wanted a new contract, which he received in August — five years, worth up to $95 million and $65 million in total guarantees.

Immediately after the Browns traded for Beckham, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that he’ll want to re-do his deal to get more guaranteed money, like Antonio Brown did with the Raiders.

Asked about that on Monday, Beckham said, “I don’t know about the contract. Honestly, it’s not on my mind right now. I’m here in the present today. Just taking it a day at a time. Whatever the plans are …’’

While Kitchens won’t hold it against Beckham if he’s not around much over the next few months, he acknowledged it’s vital for players to be here.

“With all good players, the offseason program is tremendously important not just from a knowledge standpoint, but you start forming relationships with people; you start building relationships with your teammates and with your coaches,’’ he said. “Once those relationships are built, you can ask the player and the player can ask the coach difficult [questions] and you can have difficult conversations. At that point is when you can make advancements the most.’’

Kitchens noted that it’s during this down time that coaches and players build up goodwill chips to be used later.

“There’s going to be adversity at some point, so I need to feel good with the guys in our room when that adversity hits,’’ he said. “Our staff needs to feel good about the rest of our coaches when that adversity hits. Players need to feel good about the guy lined up to his left and to his right and that these guys are going to come out of this thing with me because adversity is going to hit.

“At that point, we’ll find out what kind of team we have. It’s not going to be initially. It’s not going to be in training camp. It’s not going to be in the second week of the season. I do not know when it is going to hit, but when it does, you are going to find out what kind of team we have and not until then.”

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