Dane Belton didn’t want to call it a turning point. 

He felt as if he’d played well throughout all of Giants training camp, so when he forced a pair of turnovers against the Lions in their August joint practices and preseason game, everything the second-year safety had fine-tuned was instead “amplified.”

The fumble he stripped away from running back David Montgomery.

The interception he snagged from quarterback Nate Sudfeld.

They were just the latest signs to emerge. 

“I feel like it’s just a carry-over, my game,” Belton told The Post after practice Thursday, “and just trying to continue to get the ball.” 

After fracturing his collarbone early in training camp last year and missing the season opener against the Titans, Belton has again flashed the skills that helped him record two interceptions in 2022 and five in his final year at Iowa.

Belton said he always possessed “good ball skills,” the ones that separate the top defensive backs from the rest, and it helped distinguish Belton in the Giants’ safety competition. 

“I feel like I’ve always had good ball skills, but it really just came down to studying more film, understanding concepts,” Belton said. “Not just going out there playing football. It just definitely each week built on it a little more and seeing things and seeing things fast on the field and being able to, like I said, get the ball.” 

Belton likely won’t surpass the Giants top pair of safeties — Xavier McKinney and Jason Pinnock — for Week 1 against the Cowboys, but that doesn’t make his sophomore campaign any less pivotal.

He has already out-performed veteran safety Bobby McCain, and Belton has a chance to demonstrate that he could become a part of the Giants’ blueprint for the next few seasons, too. 

His performance in Detroit certainly helped.

During the Giants’ joint practice against the Lions on Aug. 9, Belton sprinted toward Montgomery after the running back caught a pass and cut upfield, and in one motion, he muscled possession away. 

Then, days later in the preseason game, Belton tracked Sudfeld’s throw across the middle of the field, and when he overthrew his intended target, Belton collected the ball and weaved through the Lions — evading dives and attempted tackles — until 42 yards later, he positioned the Giants for an eventual touchdown. 

“Obviously, he’s always around the ball, and really just a really good player,” McKinney told The Post on Thursday. “Really smart. He helps our back end tremendously, just like a lot of the guys do in our room. It’s a collective play with really all of us, so for us, we just try to move as a unit and we harp on trying to make plays.” 

Belton, a fourth-round pick last year, made his introduction as a rookie by forcing a fumble against the Panthers in Week 2.

He also secured 12 interceptions across four seasons at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Fla., and in his final collegiate season, Belton tied for fourth in the nation with five interceptions, just one behind the NCAA lead. 

After logging 39 percent of the regular-season snaps last year, Belton said that a second year in defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s system will “most definitely” help.

He doesn’t have to study the playbook as much as last year, when it would be a nightly task, and instead, he can focus on the subtleties. 

He can study another team, another player or even an offense.

Everything can start accelerating. 

“Every night you’re looking at the playbook to make sure I know what I’m doing,” Belton said. “Now, I know what I’m doing. I know what other people are doing.” 

Belton’s ability to strip the ball as he did against Montgomery stemmed from being conditioned, linebacker Bobby Okereke said last month. It’s not something the defense can necessarily emphasize, but they always “preach swarming to the ball.” 

And to Belton, that’s always been his approach. 

“I’ve definitely been trying to build on that,” Belton said about forcing turnovers. “That’s a really important thing, if you can get the ball for the team. Just going off my last year of college and building into the league, just trying to get the ball for sure.”