He could if he wanted to.

Daniel Jones could lean on his rookie status to explain away what virtually every young quarterback confronts as he weaves his way through his first NFL season. Turnovers are falling like acorns on the tree-covered walkway and Jones, if he so desires, can sweep them away.

Jones understands these mistakes are part of the deal. He does not like it, does not accept it and vows he will not compound the errors by making them over and over again.

“That’s the biggest thing for me, to prevent making a mistake twice,’’ Jones said Friday. “I don’t think the fact I’m young or I haven’t played is an excuse. I don’t think that helps. I’m not going to use that to help me feel better. They’re still really bad mistakes, things I can’t afford to do. The challenge, I need to be able to learn from those and prevent them from happening again.’’

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 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. That is what he was Thursday night in his first prime-time game, as he tossed three interceptions in a windy 35-14 loss to the unbeaten Patriots.

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 thrown six interceptions.

“Regardless of whether it’s your first year in the league or you’ve been doing it for a long time, what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong,’’ coach Pat Shurmur said. “It’s fair to say some of the things Daniel is going through he’s going through for the first time. Part of his charm is he’s willing to try to fit it in there. I think he’s very accurate and he’s got good velocity on his throws and he’s got confidence to get the ball in there.

“On the flip side of that, there were some things that happened on the interceptions that need to get corrected. Each play and each time he goes through it he’ll learn something from it.’’

After two of his interceptions at Gillette Stadium, 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 sat on the bench, his hand on his forehead in clear distress, and a bundled-up Manning scanned the electronic tablet in his hands, looking for clues to help the kid out.

The balance between his natural aggressiveness and the need to be smart with the ball remains an unsteady alliance.

“That’s a fine line, that’s something I need to do better,’’ Jones said.

It looks as if Jones can decipher what he is seeing and is aware what defenses are doing to him and how they are trying to bait him into mistakes. Of the three interceptions, 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.