Kadarius Toney of the Chiefs says the team is lying about illnesses after being taken out of the playoff game.
Kadarius Toney, a wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, was ruled out of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens because of personal matters and an injury to his hip, the team said Saturday. However, Toney denied being injured on Instagram Live hours before Sunday’s game.
He took part in practice fully on Wednesday, but not as much on Thursday and Friday. The Chiefs removed him from the active roster before their match against the Ravens, despite listing him as questionable before the weekend.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said on Monday that he gave wrong information about Kadarius Toney’s injury after his wide receiver went on a swear-filled social media rant in which he seemed to accuse the team of lying about his health.
For personal reasons after the birth of his daughter, Toney couldn’t play in the AFC championship victory in Baltimore on Sunday.
He hurt his hip. Toney’s 25-year-old Instagram Live post contained a lot of swear words, but she insisted, “I’m not hurt.”
“Of course, he’s been in the medical report.” During a Zoom call with local reporters on Monday, Reid confirmed that the article was entirely accurate. “He’s been working on some things and will be back out there soon.”
The Chiefs go back to practice on Thursday. That game is on February 11 in Las Vegas, and it’s against San Francisco. Teams and coaches who report injuries that are false or intended to deceive can be fined by the NFL.
In December, Falcons coach Arthur Smith received a fine of $25,000, and the team was fined $75,000 for not telling the media that running back Bijan Robinson was sick and couldn’t play in a game against Tampa Bay’s team earlier in the season.
It’s been since Week 15 against the Patriots in New England that Toney last played. He dropped a pass, and it was picked off. In a divisional-round win over Jacksonville, he caught five passes. In a Super Bowl win over Philadelphia, he caught a touchdown pass.
Detroit intercepted a dropped pass and returned it for a touchdown in Week 1. In Week 14 against Buffalo, an offside penalty took away a go-ahead touchdown reception in the last few minutes.
Reid spoke about Toney’s blog post, but he had not seen it himself. When asked if Toney was still on the team, Reid said, “He’ll be back out there, and we’ll see how he does.”
In October 2022, the Chiefs sent third- and sixth-round picks to the New York Giants in exchange for Toney. They wanted to help him reach his full potential after seeing how well he played in college.
Despite being injured for much of the time, Toney performed admirably in the playoffs last year.
This season, the Chiefs hoped Toney could make another step towards becoming a reliable threat for big plays.
Instead, Toney dropped a lot of passes and made other bad decisions that cost the team a lot of points. During the regular season, he only caught 27 passes for 169 yards.
The last time Toney played was in Week 15 against the New England Patriots, when he deflected the ball to a defender to score an interception. This was the second time this season that he did this.
The Chiefs announced that Toney would not play in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game due to his injury and personal matters. On Saturday, Toney’s partner gave birth to their first child, a daughter.
Reid said he knew about Toney’s post but hadn’t seen it himself. According to Reid, Toney was “working through some things” on Monday.
He also said that Toney would be with the Chiefs when they start practicing on Thursday for Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers.
Teams and coaches who report injuries that aren’t true or are meant to mislead can be fined by the NFL.
Arthur Smith, the coach of the Atlanta Falcons at the time, was fined $25,000, and the team was fined $75,000 in December for not telling the media that running back Bijan Robinson was sick and couldn’t play in a game against Tampa Bay earlier in the season.
Toney was expected to contribute significantly to the Chiefs this season, but he has only recorded 27 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown.
He was very important in the Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles last year. In the fourth quarter, he caught a touchdown and returned a punt 65 yards to set up another touchdown.