Giants only concerned about meeting own high expectations

Expectations in the NFL are like volatile roller coasters. They can be exhilarating when they’re met or exceeded. And they can make you queasy when things aren’t as easy.

When Brian Daboll was hired to replace Joe Judge as the Giants head coach in 2022, the team was in the midst of a five-season free fall that included just 22 wins against 59 losses.

So the expectations for Daboll’s first season, outside of the Giants locker room, weren’t exactly what you would term lofty.

Yet, there were the Giants, finishing 9-7-1 and winning a wild-card playoff game at Minnesota, earning Daboll NFL Coach of the Year honors. It was the Giants’ first postseason game since 2016 and first playoff victory since their 2011 Super Bowl season.

That kind of success wasn’t expected by anyone, least of all Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, who were embarking on a full-on culture reboot and roster teardown, and were prepared for a slow and steady climb to respectability.

The immediate and surprising success proved to be a curse of sorts, though, because the bar was raised to a level the 2023 Giants weren’t able to reach.

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This leaves Giants fans wondering what the expectations should be for this season’s team.

Starting quarterback Daniel Jones has recovered from the torn ACL that ended his season prematurely in ’23. There, too, is the subtraction of running back Saquon Barkley, the team’s top offensive player, and the addition of edge rusher Brian Burns. And the offensive line, with some additions and better health, is expected to be better.

So, what to expect out of this year’s Giants?

“I don’t think people’s expectations are very high outside of this building,’’ receiver Darius Slayton told The Post after Tuesday’s practice. “Because of what our record was last year [6-11], people probably aren’t expecting it to be much different this year.

“But I don’t really put too much stock in what people expect from us. Whether people are saying we’re the best team in the NFL or the worst team, you have to overcome that. Either way, you have to stay level-headed and have your own expectations inside the building and try to live up to those.’’

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Slayton, one of the three longest-tenured players on the roster in his sixth season with the Giants, added that he’s “definitely excited about this year, because we’ve got a lot of talent — a lot of young talent.’’

To illustrate the state of the roster turnover, linebacker Azeez Ojulari, drafted in 2021, is the only player on the roster who wasn’t drafted, signed or re-signed by Schoen.

A lot has changed in the two-plus years of the Daboll-Schoen regime.

“You just focus on this year,’’ Daboll said when asked about expectations. “This will be my 24th season. I’ve been part of 15 winning seasons, eight losing seasons. One season won a Super Bowl, the next year [did] not make the playoffs.

“It’s really what you do each and every year. We said that after the first year, [and] I’ll say it again after the second year. We have a new team, new people in the building, and we’re going to work as hard as we can work to be as good as we can be. It’s a new year. We’ve got a lot of work to.’’

Tight end Daniel Bellinger said one of the keys to handling expectations for this year is not to dwell on what happened last year.

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“There’s nothing we can do about the past,’’ Bellinger told The Post. “There’s nothing we can do about the injuries we had [last year]. That’s all gone and now we’ve just got to focus on what’s in front of us and capitalize on the mistakes we made last year and make sure we don’t make them again.

“Of course, there’s outside noise online and on social media. We see it. We’re aware of it. But for me and for us, it’s being able to block all that out and focusing on what we can control inside. As a team collectively, if we don’t reach our highest goals, we’ve got to do something about it.’’

This was exactly the take from Ojulari, who said, “We’ve got to get back to being that playoff team we were [in 2022]. We know how we were before … and we want to get back to winning games and making it to the playoffs. We have expectations to win.’’

Receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said the key to managing the outside expectations is “not to really worry about’’ them.

“They’re not in the locker room and they’re not with us each and every day working,’’ Robinson said. “We have our own expectations of what we want to look like.’’

What is that?

“We just expect to win,’’ Robinson said. “About as simple as that.’’

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