It’s been a wild few weeks for the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney.
One day before the Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game, Toney was ruled out. After participating in practice all week, his late scratch was a surprise. Toney’s official designation on the injury report was “NIR (not injury related) personal reasons/hip. The personal part was due to Toney welcoming his first child on the eve before the matchup.
While numerous NFL players have participated in a game one day after their baby’s birth, Toney did not. A few hours before kickoff on January 28, Toney went on Instagram Live and trashed the team. He said, “I’m not hurt.” In the expletive-filled message, he claimed the team was lying about his health status. “I don’t f*** with ya’ll… hip, knee, nuh-uh.”
A week later, on Sunday, February 4, Toney took to Instagram to address his outburst for the first time. In a since-deleted message captured by Starcade Media, the 25-year-old claimed his words were taken out of context.
“Ion like how dat video made it seem like i was attacking the ones i love when the klips was altered to make it look like that,” Toney wrote on his Instagram Stories.
Kadarius Toney attemps to walk back comments he made last week viral IG live video where he accused the #Chiefs of lying about his injury status. pic.twitter.com/huqeF1cDvR
— Starcade Media (@StarcadeMediaKC) February 4, 2024
“I would post the full klips where i addressed who i was speakin on but im passed that… I just hate the image it painted,” he added with a broken-heart emoji. “Smh… they do anything for klout.”
After deleting the post, Toney also wiped his Instagram page clean. There are no more photos on his page.
Kadarius Toney Returned to Practice Ahead of the Super Bowl With No Injury Designation
Kadarius Toney is among the Chiefs players on the field for the first practice of the week. pic.twitter.com/zWpSIrPA9n
— Adam Teicher (@adamteicher) February 1, 2024
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid did not seem fazed by Toney’s outburst. Speaking to reporters on January 29, “Yeah, I actually haven’t seen it,” Reid said of the video. “I’ve heard people talk about it.”
“But um, yeah, he’ll be back out there,” Reid said of Toney returning to practice. “And we’ll see how he does.” As for the claim that the Chiefs are lying about his injury, he shut that narrative down. “Obviously, he’s been on the injury report. That part’s not made up by any means,” Reid said. “But he’s been working through some things. He’ll be back out there.”
The former first-round pick returned to practice this week without any injuries noted. However, his status for playing against the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl remains unknown.
While the Florida alum was absolutely clutch during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win last year, many fans are hoping he doesn’t return to play. With so many drops and penalties this season, he’s seen more as a liability for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In 13 games this season, Toney recorded 27 catches for 169 yards and one score.
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce Offered Nothing But Support Toward Kadarius Toney
While Toney has become a polarizing figure for Chiefs Kingdom, tight end Travis Kelce continues to have his teammate’s back. “I just want him to know it’s always love in this building,” Kelce told reporters on February 2.
“I know guys go through things both in this building and in their personal lives — he just had a baby girl, a beautiful baby girl, so shout-out to Kadarius for that one — but I think what’s real is what happens in this building and how we can channel that. And I just wanted to make sure he knew that we were all still behind him and ready to go get this Super Bowl.”
