There is no way to tell what Daniel Jones is, what he will become and what his reputation will develop into as an NFL quarterback. Will he be clutch and a comeback threat? Will he be a risk-taker or more of a game manager? Will he need superior talent around him or will he be able to elevate those around him, no matter who they are?

There is a certain label the Giants cannot accept out of Jones: a turnover-prone quarterback.

In his four NFL starts, Jones is responsible for eight turnovers, and that is a ghastly total. He is a rookie, and often, ghastly numbers attach to rookie quarterbacks like suction cups. Eli Manning back in 2004 had 10 turnovers (nine interceptions, one lost fumble) in his nine starts. Jones, if he starts the remaining 10 games this season, is on pace for 28 turnovers. Jones has lost two fumbles and has thrown six interceptions.

Coach Pat Shurmur insists “we will get that cleaned up,’’ but most often, it is messy around rookies and no one as part of the education process wants to temper Jones’ aggressiveness. Jones needs to be more decisive when it comes to throwing the ball away and make sure he flings the ball where no one can get it. He does not want to give up on a play, but, as Manning learned, there are times when living to fight another down is not only acceptable, but preferable.

After two of his three interceptions in the 35-14 loss to the Patriots, Jones angrily used both hands to rip off the buckle on his chinstrap, looking as if he wanted to hit something in frustration. On the sideline, he could be seen seated on the bench, his hands on his helmet in clear distress, as a bundled-up Manning scanned the electronic tablet in his hands, looking for clues to help the kid out.

It does not look as if Jones cannot decipher what he is seeing and is unaware what defenses are doing to him or how they are trying to bait him into making mistakes. Of the three interceptions Thursday night at windy Gillette Stadium, the first was a bad throw, late and forced into traffic; the second was supposed to be a throwaway, but he held onto the ball too long and got his right arm hit; and the third was a misread of the coverage.

Jones was not a blatantly turnover-prone player in college. He threw 29 interceptions in 36 starts at Duke, and though that is not overly impressive, it must be factored in that his team often trailed and Jones had to throw the ball late in games, often in dire situations.

Rookies turning the ball over is a way of life in the NFL. Ever since his spectacular starting debut in Tampa — he did lose two fumbles in that comeback victory — Jones’ performance has gone down game by game. The rugged defenses of the Vikings and the Patriots made him look every bit a struggling rookie quarterback. It might be true that Jones is concocting secret healing remedies to get Saquon Barkley’s ankle right. Handing the ball to Barkley could be Jones’ most direct path to upgrading his own game.

More that came out of the loss to the Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.:

– C’mon, Pat, how about giving a real answer to a legitimate question? The Giants were down 28-14 with 7:08 remaining when Shurmur opted to punt the ball away rather than go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 33-yard line. No doubt, this was a tough spot no matter what he decided to do. Punting the ball away, down 14 points, is all but revealing you do not believe you can win the game and want to get out of town as quickly as possible. Go for it and fail to pick up the first down and the Patriots get the ball, already in Giants territory and could have an easy march to another touchdown. Maybe Shurmur did not want to see more points tacked on to a defensive effort that was far better than the score indicated. Still, on third down, Jones looked deep to Darius Slayton on a pass that did not connect — the sort of shot a team takes when it is in four-down territory. The Giants were not going to win no matter what Shurmur did here, but hopefully he had a good reason to punt the ball away. Saying after the game Thursday night, “I felt like it was the right thing to do’’ and leaving it at that is pretty flimsy.

Shurmur was asked about the decision again Friday and gave a slight window into his thought process.

“Punt the ball, get ’em stopped and continue to play,” Shurmur said.

– Yes, it was pass interference on Patriots defensive back Jonathan Jones with 2:52 left to play as he made contact too early on Golden Tate and then impeded his ability to catch the ball before the pass was thrown. Yes, Shurmur was right in challenging the non-call. Yes, it was no surprise at all the ruling on the field stood. It is clear the NFL — as a knee-jerk reaction to the Saints getting screwed in the playoffs last season — put in a challenge rule that is only going to overturn the most egregious cases of mugging and blatant holding and pile-driving someone to the turf. Anything remotely ticky-tacky or borderline is going to stand. According to league statistics, there were 39 pass interference challenges through Week 5 — 33 coach challenges and six booth reviews. Out of the 39, seven have been overturned — 18 percent. So coaches adamant about not burning a timeout on a challenge they are not going to win need to determine if 18 percent is worth the gamble.

– The pairing of David Mayo alongside Alec Ogletree at inside linebacker looked fairly impressive, didn’t it? It is such a shame rookie Ryan Connelly is out for the season and will soon undergo knee surgery, as a Connelly-Ogletree duo was starting to come on strong. Mayo, mostly a backup in four years with the Panthers — four starts in 58 games — has been active since taking over a starting role. He might be a serviceable stopgap and needs to be, with the coaching staff completely soured on Tae Davis. In a rapid reversal, Davis went from an opening week starter to a healthy scratch against the Patriots.

– When there are injuries and absences, veterans inhabiting roster spots need to rise to the occasion. Where was Cody Latimer in this game? He was on the field for 23 of the 50 offensive snaps and did not have a single catch. He was targeted only once. Sterling Shepard was out after suffering another concussion and pass-catching tight end Evan Engram was out with a sprained knee. Golden Tate, predictably, was the top target (he was thrown to nine times), and rookie Darius Slayton, while targeted eight times, caught only three passes for 32 yards in his introduction to the vice-grip Patriots secondary. Latimer needed to take some of the load and he did not.

– In cases when the depth chart is stretched and dangerously close to snapping, the hope is the player asked to do something he probably is not capable of doing tries to abide by Hippocrates’ oath for physicians: “First, do no harm.’’ No one expected Jon Hilliman to in any way, shape or form replace Barkley and function as a high-end starting running back. Heck, there was no real expectation Hilliman could be Wayne Gallman, the No. 2 running back. With Barkley (high ankle sprain) and Gallman (concussion) unavailable, the Giants turned to an undrafted rookie from Rutgers to at least compete at the position. That Hilliman could not get any traction — 11 rushing attempts, 38 yards — against the Patriots’ defense is no surprise. He cost his team points, though, when his fumble after catching a short pass was returned 22 yards by Kyle Van Noy for a fourth-quarter touchdown, a killer for the Giants and a bummer for Hilliman. He took the heat and stood in the locker room after the game, making no excuses. “That just can’t happen,’’ he said. Hilliman seems like a standup guy and he was put into an untenable situation. But he is right. He needs to hold onto the ball and, at the very least, do no harm.