The preseason is where narratives meet kerosene and expectations are either fanned or extinguished, based around a handful of snaps from your favorite team’s starters and three quarters of football played by draft darlings and future entrepreneurs.

Whether it’s Rams first-round pick Ty Simpson showing outrageous progress in his first semester at the Sean McVay School of Quarterbacking (passing for 190 yards and two touchdowns against the Chiefs), or some Buccaneers social media fan page comparing a couple of scrambles from quarterback Jalon Daniels into a “right-handed Michael Vick,” the preseason was made for extremes.

Inside this week’s column, we go deep from our trip to East Rutherford on how Malik Nabers’ prolonged absence from team drills may actually be benefiting quarterback Jaxson Dart and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy while giving reps to a logjam of receivers, find out from league sources and executives where they think the Vikings go from here with J.J. McCarthy and his potential trade value, and I clear out the notebook from the Training Camp Express Tour.

Let’s get after it …

EAST RUTHERFORD, Nj. — Malik Nabers takes up a lot of oxygen and commands a lot of attention, and for good reason.

When Nabers requests homemade Rice Krispy Treats among the snacks from rookie receivers, Malachi Fields’ wife steps up and makes a batch for the receiver room.

“He ate the whole box in one day,” Fields joked after Thursday’s practice.

Thursday, Nabers took part in full-team 11-on-11 drills for the first time of this camp, while working his way back from a torn ACL, offering even the slightest glimpse of what this passing game has the chance to develop into.

Saturday afternoon, Fields got to eat, hauling in his first career touchdown in the Giants’ opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

It’s still a bit of an unknown, how Dart and Nabers will be able to take flight in new coordinator Matt Nagy’s system. After all, the two only connected on two passes for 20 yards last season before Nabers tore his ACL in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

There was a palpable excitement from Giants teammates on each of Nabers’ catches in team drills on Thursday. But, his absence in camp may have been a bit of a blessing in disguise for Dart and the rest of New York’s offense.

Those targets that would normally be earmarked for Nabers had to go somewhere, and the 23-year-old’s absence allowed Dart to build his chemistry, timing, and confidence with the likes of veteran newcomers Darnell Mooney, Odell Beckham Jr., Braxton Berrios, a rookie like Fields and a Giants mainstay like Slayton.

“It’s been huge,” Dart told Between The Hashmarks of the added run with the rest of the Giants’ receivers this summer. “Obviously, we have a lot of new guys this year, from last year. I think any time you get those reps, they’re very valuable getting timing.

“Even the reps where we may have an incompletion, we can go back and watch the tape, really learn from each other, and that’s what I’m excited about. Each and every day, we’re getting that much closer with each other and just seeing the game through the same lens.”

Giants wide receivers coach Chad Hall is as excited about and intrigued by what Nabers can bring to the table, but sees significant value in the snaps the other receivers have been able to get with Dart during camp.

“Those reps are invaluable,” Hall says. “Malik’s gonna do his thing once he gets back, everyone’s seen that. He’s strong, fast, quick.

“These other guys to get these opportunities, to be in these primary spots, to make these plays, is huge. It’s huge for the depth of this offense. They’ve stepped up. Mooney’s gotten better. It’s been a wide receiver room by committee, and we have a great group, where it’s been a different guy showing out every day.”

Receiver is a fluid situation when it comes to who will actually be on this roster when the Dallas Cowboys come to town to open the season on Sunday Night Football.

Mooney and Beckham are fighting for a job. Berrios is hoping to parlay a strong camp into the return job and some offensive snaps.

But, Fields is intent on not just making sure Nabers has his favorite snacks on hand in meetings but making sure he’s soaking up every bit of knowledge he can in those meetings, and making the most of the reps he was able to take in his absence.

“The process off the field,” Fields says is what he’s taken away from his veteran teammates. “Taking care of your body, how to study, and then on the field, trying to be a master of your craft. Trying to find different ways to run certain routes, different ways to change up the tempo in your route, just dabbles of it everywhere.”

At 6-foot-5 and 222 pounds, Fields is a big target, with a big catch radius, who has the chance to climb the depth chart and become a red zone weapon for Dart and the Giants.

Long before catching 165 collegiate passes for 2,479 yards, and 16 touchdowns, it was Fields’ father and his unorthodox approach that shaped the catch radius the Giants hope to harness.

“When I was young, my Dad would throw me the football,” Fields says. “I’d be on the trampoline, jumping around, and he would throw it up and I’d go grab it.

“Over the years, we’d be in the backyard throwing, whether it was baseball or football, we’d just play catch. Even to this day, whenever I can, I try to get catches in.”

It isn’t just the receivers down the depth chart who have benefitted this summer, but there’s a benefit for Dart hiding in plain sight, of his top target working on the side or limited by the red non-contact jersey.

“It’s been good for Jaxson,” Hall explains. “You can’t lean on just one guy, or ‘okay, you’re in man, I’m going to this guy,’ he kind of feels out the defense, is put in a place to go to the right guy every time, so it’s been good growth for him, as well.”

As much as this offense is going to funnel through Nabers in the vertical passing game, and as much as the respect that opposing secondaries must command Nabers will open up opportunities for Mooney, or Slayton, or Fields, the Giants are only going as far as Dart can take them in his second season.

“He’s a competitor,” Fields explains. “He always wants to win. Whether it’s a walkthrough, or a full-speed practice, he always wants to get better. He’s always bringing different guys into the film room, watching it together, and then creating that chemistry off the field whether it’s getting dinner or hanging in the facility.”

Nabers can eat all the Rice Krispies Treats he wants. But, if this summer is teaching John Harbaugh and Matt Nagy anything, it’s that Dart now has plenty of options to feed on Sundays.

Kevin O’Connell didn’t waste any time.

Well, he didn’t waste any more of his or his team’s time than the 256 first-team snaps J.J. McCarthy took during training camp, before O’Connell named Kyler Murray the starting quarterback before the Vikings’ first preseason game.

In the immediate future, it is clear that O’Connell believes Murray gives the Vikings the best chance to win now. And, he might be right.

We haven’t seen this version of Kyler Murray in game action yet, not the version throwing to elite wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, operating in a system that resurrected Sam Darnold’s career.