Chiefs football coach Andy Reid is still confident in wide receiver Kadarius Toney as an asset to the team’s offense in light of his latest on-the-field miscues.
During the Chiefs’ 27–17 win against the Patriots in Week 15, Toney failed to catch a short pass across the middle from quarterback Patrick Mahomes that resulted in an interception by New England linebacker Jahlani Tavai in the fourth quarter. Two plays later, the Patriots took advantage of the Chiefs’ turnover with a touchdown to cut Kansas City’s deficit to 10 points.
But before Toney’s late-game blunder on Sunday, he dominated NFL headlines and sports talk shows during the past week for his late-game offsides penalty that negated a risky, improvised touchdown that included a lateral between him and Travis Kelce in the final minutes of the Chiefs’ 20–17 loss to the Bills.
Reid said he isn’t shunning Toney despite his latest acts on the gridiron, yet didn’t provide a full endorsement either.
“We’ll see how things go,” Reid said in the Chiefs’ postgame news conference. “I’m not down on [Kadarius] Toney. He does some good things.”
Deflected and picked off by the @Patriots defense
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Toney, who turns 25 on Jan. 27, is in his third NFL season after a strong college career at Florida. Although Toney has multiple years of experience, Reid still considers the Chiefs’ wideout to be young in his NFL career.
“We’re not talking about somebody who’s been in this league a long time,” Reid said.
Over the next three weeks, it will be worth watching to see how Toney bounces back as the Chiefs face the Raiders (6–8) on Christmas in Week 16 and the Bengals (8–6) on New Year’s Eve in Week 17 before ending the ’23 campaign with an AFC West clash against the Chargers (5–9) in their season finale.
Toney finished Sunday’s game with two catches on four targets for five yards.
