Darren Waller wants to be a difference-maker when the Giants need one most.
“That’s how people have seen me since I got here,” Waller told The Post. “In my career, if my team needs a play, I want to be out there and make it. I feel like the plays that I make give the team energy and can shift things. I want to be able to do that because of the spark it can give everybody.”
It’s difficult to reconcile how the splashy March trade acquisition has gone from the focal point of the offense during training camp to a pedestrian 15 catches for 153 yards (both team highs) over four games.
In an offense averaging a league-worst 11.5 points and just 158 passing yards per game, and playing without the injured Saquon Barkley, Waller had just one target in the first 54 minutes of Monday night’s 24-3 loss to the Seahawks.
Waller admittedly was searching for answers after the game, saying he “can’t tell anybody else how to do their job” and calling his lack of targets “a tough pill to swallow.”
Head coach Brian Daboll later attributed Waller’s disappearance to a blocking emphasis when fellow tight end Daniel Bellinger suffered a first-quarter knee injury.
“That’s part of being a teammate,” Waller said. “As much as I’d like to run routes all the time, there might be things that I might not necessarily want to do that are necessary. That’s everybody in football. There are certain situations that I’ve got to do this to help the team.”
It looked like Waller might score his first touchdown as a Giant when he broke open on a corner route in the end zone.
But Daniel Jones hesitated — a legitimate preseason concern was whether the ball might be forced too much to Waller — and instead threw an underneath interception that was returned for a touchdown.
“I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed, I’d say that’s the flow of football sometimes,” Waller said. “There have been seasons where I’ve had 1,100 yards where there were three or four games where I didn’t touch the ball as much, or the flow of me being involved in playmaking wasn’t necessarily there.
“Those are things that you’ve got to accept and be like nobody is plotting against me, nobody is trying to keep me from being involved.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka offered no insight on why Waller has not been a bigger focal point, falling back on “each week’s different” while lumping in the former Pro Bowler carrying the largest contract among offensive playmakers with the rest of the cast.
For his part, Waller will “continue to be vocal” like he was in Week 2 as a driving force when the Giants offense looked competent — explosive, even — in a comeback against the Cardinals.
“These coaches are always receptive to our opinions, and always receptive to what we see in the game,” Waller said. “Just continuing to bring ideas to them, bring things that I feel and see on the game field because they’ve got things to worry about as well.”
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