Jaxson Dart faced tough environments in the SEC, but what will Philadelphia have in store?

Jaxson Dart’s no stranger to hostile environments. Being a quarterback in the SEC meant facing that situation frequently.

Still, the rookie was warned about his first visit to Philadelphia on Sunday as a visiting player. How the Giants-Eagles rivalry kicks up a notch away from MetLife Stadium. How Eagles fans are notoriously adversarial toward visitors.

Dart is looking forward to it. It’s one more challenge and experience in his first go-around in the NFL.

“It’s going to be intense for sure. I can’t wait to go out there and compete and kind of just feel the hostility in the air,” Dart said. “The rivalry between the two organizations — it’s going to be really cool. I kind of compare it to an SEC rivalry, so I’m really excited for the atmosphere.”

There’s another reason Eagles fans might be more fired up than usual. Dart led the Giants to a 34-17 victory over the Philadelphia earlier this month. He and fellow rookie Cam Skattebo took turns carving up the defense and memorably danced together after Skattebo’s first of three touchdowns.

The Giants haven’t swept the Eagles since 2007. It would be one more early notch in Dart’s belt as he seeks his first road win as a starting quarterback.

Naturally, Eagles fans will welcome Dart with their typical disdain to an environment in which the Giants have struggled.

“If he didn’t have any haters, he’ll find out where they all live,” receiver Darius Slayton said. “He’s about to get introduced to all of them.”

Slayton and several of Dart’s teammates have offered advice on what to expect. Slayton, who played for Auburn, called Eagles fans “number one in hostility” and thought that Dart comparing them to SEC fans makes sense.

Wan’Dale Robinson agreed. The receiver also has SEC experience, having played at Kentucky. He thinks Dart will be numb to whatever Eagles fans throw his way.

“He’s definitely had to deal with that already, being in the SEC and playing against those teams,” Robinson said. “They’re going to be definitely all on him during the game. I’m sure we’ll have little talks and stuff, just stay in the moment, stay playing the game, stay locked in. But nothing too crazy. I know he’s going to be locked in and ready to go.”

Dart’s three years at Ole Miss meant getting comfortable walking into raucous stadiums at every turn. He said there wasn’t one environment that stood out more than the others because they all have their own breed of hate-filled energy.

“LSU is intense, Georgia is intense,” he said with a laugh. “Alabama is intense, Auburn is intense. You guys want me to keep going?”

Fair enough. Dart pointed out that at those schools, the road team warmed up in front of the opposing student section, so players would hear everything under the sun.

It never rattled him. In fact, he called it fun listening to all the insults and trash talk.

“I like to hear it. It just amps up the intensity, amps up the moment,” Dart said. “I mean, shoot, it’s a lot more fun to play in front of that than to play in front of no one at all.”

If so, he’ll feel right at home in Philadelphia, where brotherly love comes in various forms of curses, boos and disrespect for a rivalry the Eagles have dominated at home.

The last time the Giants walked out of Philadelphia with a win was 2013. The Eagles ended the Giants’ season last year with a thud when their backups handed the Giants their 14th loss of the season in the regular-season finale.

Daniel Jones’ first game there came in 2020 in his second season. Jones was 20-for-30 for 187 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked three times.

Eli Manning? His first start in Philadelphia also was in Year Two, but despite three interceptions, he left with a win, 312 passing yards and a touchdown.

The one thing in Dart’s favor is that he improved in his second road start. After having a hand in three turnovers in New Orleans, he had only one in Denver, a fourth-quarter interception that set up a Broncos touchdown.

Dart shook it off by leading a go-ahead touchdown drive on the Giants’ final offensive series. It impressed his teammates that he didn’t let the interception rattle him in a visiting stadium.

“Things like that, bad plays, it’s going to happen,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. “It’s all about how you respond and he responded well, and that’s all that matters.

Dart also played mostly mistake-free in his first game against the Eagles. He’ll need to be just as clean facing a defense that’ll have defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who missed the first meeting with an ankle injury.

As for the crowd? Dart is more than ready. It may be hostile, but to him, it’s no different from what he already has dealt with. He found a way to handle that, and now he’s ready to be welcomed by Eagles fans seeing him as the enemy.

“I know it’s going to be intense,’’ he said, “but just excited for it.”

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.