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Most NFL players would tell you it’s unfair to pin a loss entirely on one person, but plenty of NFL fans would tell you it would be very fair to place most (if not all) of the blame on Kadarius Toney after the Chiefs lost to the Lions to open up the season.
Toney made a name for himself as a wide receiver at the University of Florida before he was selected by the Giants with the 20th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. He showed promise as a rookie before tearing his hamstring just a couple of weeks into his sophomore campaign and was traded to the Chiefs for a couple of draft picks last October.
The WR was a key contributor in Kansas City’s win over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII and was obviously hoping to pick up where he left off when they hosted the Lions last Thursday. Unfortunately, that did not end up being the case.
Toney was a massive liability in a contest where he dropped a number of crucial passes, and he temporarily disappeared from social media before popping back up to fire a shot at the Giants after his old squad got embarrassed by the Cowboys on Monday Night Football.
Following the loss, there were a number of reactionary Chiefs fans who encouraged the franchise to cut or trade Toney as soon as possible, but he got some support from Patrick Mahomes, who said he still “trusts” the wideout despite the slew of embarrassing mistakes.
Now, ESPN reports head coach Andy Reid has made it clear he’s also in Toney’s corner, as he had this to say while discussing how the team plans to move forward in the wake of the Detroit debacle:
“He’s not a guy that drops balls. He’s got great hands, so we just got to keep working through it.
The only way we’re going to get him back is by playing him. I think you’ll see better as we go down the road here from him.”
Toney will have the chance to redeem himself when the Chiefs face off against the Jaguars on Sunday.