PHILADELPHIA – Sure he has noticed it. How could he not?

Daniel Jones would have had to be wearing noise-canceling headphones all winter to not hear the compliments and plaudits. He has said for years that the opinions that matter most to him are those from inside the Giants’ facility and that what is said about him elsewhere does not really resonate with him.  

Yes, he is on social media, but not much and even less than not much during the season. His most recent Twitter post was on Oct. 28 and it was a promotional tweet for a fantasy football stats outfit. What he knows about what is being said about him most often comes from family and friends, keeping him somewhat informed.

The buzz about him was never brighter than it was late in the season, culminating with the reaction to his outstanding performance in the 31-24 playoff victory over the Vikings in Minneapolis.

“I don’t think I’ve spent a whole lot of time thinking about that,’’ Jones said. “I think if there’s anything I’ve learned it’s about what you do the next week, so I’m focused on that. Continuing to try to improve and play as well as I can on Saturday, that’s my focus.’’

He is not oblivious, though. There are nice things being said about him and some of that niceness has made its way to him.

“Yeah, you hear some of it for sure and notice some of it,’’ Jones said. “It’s part of it. I can’t control how people respond positively or negatively, just control how I play and that’s my focus.’’

This is not entirely accurate. Of course, Jones cannot control what is said about him but the better he plays and the more the Giants win, it is readily apparent what the tone of the conversation will be.

The much-ballyhooed “narrative’’ the Giants took into the 2022 season was one of development and growth. There was a new general manager, Joe Schoen, and a first-year head coach, Brian Daboll. There was hope – for the future. As far as the present, as far as this season, there was anticipation that Daboll could lay the groundwork to pull the franchise out of the ineptitude that dropped the Giants into the depths of the NFL, matching the Jets for the worst record (18-49) in the league over the past five seasons.

Jones needed to stay healthy and show he could direct a team to a winning record. The same could have been stated about running back Saquon Barkley heading into the season. Both players were entering the final year on their contracts and both needed to impress and convince Schoen and Daboll that they were worthy of new deals.  

Both appear to have locked up their place with the Giants moving forward, based on their availability – neither Jones nor Barkley missed a game because of injury – and their productivity and, perhaps most importantly, their ability to carry the team into the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and carry their team into an NFC divisional playoff game Saturday night against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

Barkley surpassed his rookie rushing mark with a career-best 1,312 yards. He was effective in his first career playoff game, rushing for 53 yards (on only nine carries, an average of 6.9 yards per attempt) and catching five passes for 56 yards. He scored two touchdowns, on runs of 28 and 2 yards and admitted doing this in the preseason is a prerequisite to attain his goal of being an all-time great.

“You’ve got to do it in both,’’ Barkley said. “Regular season, postseason, throughout your whole career. There’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs, but you’ve got to try to be a consistent player. You want to create a legacy. You look at all the Giants greats – they did it in the postseason. Yeah, that’s extra motivation, but when you’re looking back and actually playing in my first playoff game – there’s nothing that even comes to mind. You’re just so locked in, so focused because every play, every quarter is so crucial. The situation becomes so critical because it’s one game, if you don’t take care of one game you go home. That’s really what pushes you – your competitive nature just goes to a whole other level. Your intensity just rises because of the nature of game.’’

This was serious business for Jones and Barkley. They were, after all, playing for their futures with the Giants. No one could ever accuse either player of anything other than unmitigated professionalism this season. That does not mean it was a season filled with heaviness and pressure. Daboll arrived with a lighter approach than former head coach Joe Judge and that made a difference, for Jones, for Barkley and all the others.

“I think that’s huge,’’ defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “I think that’s something that I really value in this team is we’re serious when we have to be. Obviously, we’re taking this seriously. But at the same time, I think we have to be loose and have fun and remember that it’s a game. Be where you’re supposed to be and know what you’re supposed to do and all those types of things. At the end of the day, I feel like when we play with that type of fun and looseness that we play with a different type of swagger, and it allows us to play fast.’’