Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney shifted the blame away from himself for causing drama in the locker room this week ahead of the team’s trip to the Super Bowl. Toney missed the AFC Championship Game for “personal” reasons.
Kadarius Toney dealt with personal issues recently
The Chiefs announced the personal reason was due to the birth of Toney’s daughter. However, hours before the AFC Championship Game, Toney said his injuries listed on the Chiefs’ injury report were made up on Instagram Live.
Per GH Media, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid disputed Toney’s claim last week:
Per ESPN, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said this week Toney was “working through some things,” and the team was not making up the wide receiver’s injury:
“He’s been on the injury report, [so] that part is not made up by any means,” Reid said.
Lying about Toney’s injury status would make the Chiefs susceptible to a punishment from the NFL.
The Chiefs did not practice Wednesday but listed Toney as a full participant for Wednesday’s projected practice status. However, the team kept him on the injury report for a personal reason. It was unclear if the personal issue had to do with Toney’s outburst this weekend or the birth of his child.
There was speculation the Chiefs might bench Toney before his name was added to the injury report following their game against the New England Patriots in December.
The Kansas City Chiefs supported Toney
According to the Chiefs Wire, tight end Travis Kelce said the team was behind Toney, even after his outburst last weekend:
“I want him to know it’s always love in this building, and I know guys go through things both in this building and in their personal lives,” said Kelce. “He just had a baby girl, a beautiful baby girl, so shout out to Kadarius for that one, but I think you know 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.”
Toney pointed the finger for the viral video
Per Starcade Media, Toney tried to blame the drama from his comments on an unnamed source. Toney wrote on social media that the audio of his remarks was altered:
“Ion like how dat video made it seem like iwas attacking the ones ilove when the klips was altered to make it
look like that I would post the full klips where i addressed who i was speakin on but im passed that … just hate the image it painted…Smh …they do anything for klout”
Toney would have done better not to address the situation rather than to claim the audio was altered. Of course, it’s possible, via last week’s video, that Toney’s name might not have been on the injury report if he played football better this season.
No one in Kansas City would care about Toney’s comments if he hadn’t made so many mistakes catching the ball or staying onside this season.
Toney’s problem in the previous three seasons has been his play on the field.
More must-reads: