ROLL OF THE DICE
Toney could be Chiefs’ high stakes Super Bowl gamble
Kadarius Toney accused the Chiefs of lying about his injury status last Sunday and has been an inactive bystander to Kansas City’s disciplined return to a second straight Super Bowl. But Toney also made two of the biggest plays of Kansas City’s comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles to raise the Lombardi Trophy last year.
That presents quite a dilemma for Chiefs coach Andy Reid with Toney returning to practice as a full participant ahead of next Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII showdown with the San Francisco 49ers at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
Should Reid keep Toney inactive, avoid disrupting the current group’s chemistry and momentum, and remove Toney’s drama and drops from the equation — but rob his team of a playmaker in its biggest game?
Or should Reid dress Toney for the game and use him strategically to try to catch lightning in a bottle again, but risk another major gaffe or drop or more distractions steering the Chiefs’ train off the tracks?
It was certainly curious to see Toney listed as a “full” participant for Thursday’s practice due only to a “personal matter” that is “not injury related” — days after Toney disputed the team’s claim that he was hurt.
Toney had been ruled out with a “hip” injury from last week’s AFC Championship Game, and the Chiefs then added “personal” reasons to his designation because Toney’s partner had given birth to the couple’s first child on Saturday.
But Toney went on a profanity-laced rant on Instagram the morning of the AFC title game and said he didn’t have the hip and ankle injuries the Chiefs had listed for him in recent weeks prior to scratches against the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens.
“I’m not hurt, none of that sh-t,” Toney said. “Not hurt, none of that. It go[es] from hip to ankle to this to that.”
Reid said the Chiefs’ injury report was “not made up by any means” and Toney has “been working through some things” but he would “be back out there” and “we’ll see how he does.”
It is nothing new for Toney to be involved in a he-said, shesaid about being injured and kept away from a team.
Toney was left off the Giants’ Oct. 2022 trip to London altogether and missed five straight games supposedly due to hamstring injuries. But when he got traded to Kansas City shortly after, Toney tweeted that he was not actually injured.
Questions about the validity of NFL injury reports certainly is not what the league wants as it brings its Super Bowl to Las Vegas of all places. And this kind of distraction would be unbearable for most teams.
Reid is famously tolerant when it comes to off-field issues, though, if a player can help him win that Sunday’s game. And the Chiefs wouldn’t have won last year’s Super Bowl without Toney’s fourth quarter heroics.
He caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to cut the Philadelphia Eagles’ lead to 28-27 with 12:04 remaining in the game. Then he returned Philly’s next punt 65 yards to the Eagles’ 5-yard line to set up Skyy Moore’s 4-yard TD catch for a 35-27 lead.
This regular season, however, the Chiefs hoped Toney would grab hold of a larger role, and instead he strengthened his reputation as a liability.
His infamous offensive offside penalty negated a game-winning touchdown in a Week 14 loss to the Bills. Then he had a drop intercepted by the Patriots in Week 15 — calling to mind his Week 1 debacle against the Lions, with three drops and one returned for a Detroit TD.
Toney hasn’t played since that New England game. The Chiefs have gone 5-1 since, winning three playoff games with tight end Travis Kelce (262 yards, three TDs), rookie wideout Rashee Rice (223 yards, one TD) and veteran receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (108 yards) rank Nos. 1, 2 and 5 in NFL receiving yards this postseason.
At punt returner, meanwhile, veteran receiver Richie James — another former Giant — has earned the Kansas City staff’s trust.
Going into the AFC Championship Game, special teams coordinator Dave Toub was asked if Toney would return punts when he re-entered the lineup.
“That’s always a possibility. We’re going to stick with Richie,” Toub said. “Richie has been our guy. He’s at meetings. He knows what’s going on. And he’s been good. He’s been really good. He’s making good decisions and he’s solid, and that’s what we’re looking for right now. Injuries or something like that, you might see Toney, you might see [Mecole] Hardman.”
Toub was speaking to James’ reliability. That’s a quality Toney has not demonstrated, and it’s a quality the Chiefs need to prioritize in the Super Bowl next Sunday against the 49ers.
Reid has switched to a run-heavy, more conservative offensive attack to complement Steve Spagnuolo’s defense with this version of the Chiefs. They don’t have the same room for major mistakes they might have had in past years. And Toney presents a risk.
Reid might just handle Toney the same way he did in last year’s Super Bowl, then: put him in uniform, keep him on the sideline early and break the glass for an emergency late if he’s in a desperate spot for a big play.
Toney actually only played six offensive snaps and two on special teams in that Super Bowl win over the Eagles. He returned one punt and played one offensive snap in the first quarter then didn’t see the field again until the fourth for spot usage while trailing with time running short.
All that is to say that Reid knew who Toney was entering last year’s Super Bowl, too. He didn’t count on him, but he retained the option to unleash him in big spots if necessary.
So it’s safe to say Reid might approach Toney the same way in Vegas: steer clear of the high-stakes tables early, but when it starts getting late, reserve the right to put all of the Chiefs’ money on red.