The Giants are 1-5 and have not scored a touchdown on offense in four consecutive games.
The growing pains with a rookie wide receiver and the necessary caution with a second-year wide receiver coming off a torn ACL are now assigned to the past.
There is a desperation for more yards and especially more points, no matter if it is Tyrod Taylor (highly likely) or Daniel Jones (highly unlikely) back there as the quarterback, and this means Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson are going to be seen more frequently on the field.
This trend started in last week’s 14-9 loss to the Bills in Orchard Park and will continue Sunday, when the Giants return home to face the Commanders at MetLife Stadium.
“I think every game for me is helping me,’’ Hyatt said Wednesday after practice. “The game speed is getting slower for me. I’m understanding what I have to do, the connection with Tyrod or DJ is getting better.’’
Anything better has to help for a team with an NFL-low 71 points.
Hyatt against the Bills played 56 out of the 77 snaps on offense, easily a season high.
He averaged fewer than 27 snaps a game the first five weeks of the season.
“I mean, you’re a rookie,’’ coach Brian Daboll said. “It’s a hard position to play, receiver. I coached it for six years. There weren’t many rookie receivers that I’ve had that have played right away. Deion Branch comes to mind as one of them.
“But it’s a learning experience when you’re a young receiver. There’s a lot of different things that happen that maybe didn’t happen to him in college relative to whether it’s press coverage, certain adjustments, things like that, and that happens for most. He’s a young guy that’s still learning, and he’ll get some opportunities.’’
Robinson against the Bills was on the field for a season-high 46 snaps.
Despite missing the first two games, he is second on the team with 22 receptions.
He is averaging only 6.4 yards per catch, though, often sliding to the turf as he brings the ball in.
Are his routes too predictable, tipping the defense off to the short stuff and wide receiver screens he is asked to run?
“Obviously when I go in the game I hear, ‘This might be going this way’ and things like that,’’ Robinson told The Post. “Got to do a better job of executing and breaking tackles and things like that.’’
It is even more halting with Parris Campbell.
He is averaging a paltry 5.3 yards on his 16 receptions.
Campbell averaged 10.1 yards on his 97 receptions the past four seasons with the Colts.
“To be honest I don’t have a straight answer for you,’’ Campbell told The Post. “It’s a goal, not only for myself but for a lot of guys in the room that can do something with the ball after the catch. I just think it comes down to consistency. If we have a more consistent drive, drive in and drive out the yards after catch will come. When you have consistency in drives that’s where you’re wearing down the defense.’’
Darren Waller’s 10.1 yards-per-catch average is down nearly 2 yards per catch from his heyday with the Raiders.
Darius Slayton, always a long-ball threat, is at 13.9 yards per catch but through six games does not have enough of them (17).
Hyatt, thanks to his big-play second half in Arizona (two catches for 89 yards), is averaging 17.1 yards on his seven receptions.
Otherwise, the yards after the catch are trickling in.
“Oh, it’s a combination of everything,’’ Daboll said. “It’s getting up field, making a guy miss, ball placement, everything plays into it. If you’re beating man coverage, escaping man; if you’re in zone, splitting defenders. That’s about what it is.
“You always want to stay in favorable situations, so a 5-yard pass, you’d like to turn into an 8-yard gain, a 9-yard gain. First down, make it second-and-1. Second-and-5, make it first down. Definitely important.’’
Hyatt does not need to get the ball in bulk to be a yardage producer and he says he is better adjusted to a new role assigned to him with the Giants.
“The biggest thing for me, I played slot for three years at Tennessee, and getting up here and playing an outside role is a little different,’’ Hyatt said. “It was getting used to playing outside, having a little more time, doing different releases, getting off the press coverage and you’re gonna see the elite of the elite out there on the perimeter.’’
Hyatt, 22, will get more chances to show his stuff. So will Robinson, also 22. The youth movement is on.
