Chiefs HC Andy Reid noncommittal on WR Kadarius Toney's future
Another week brings another error for Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney, and comments from the head coach have now cast some doubt over his future. Last week, it was an offside penalty that erased an iconic play from Travis Kelce. This week Toney popped up a pass that was intercepted, and it gave the […]
Another week brings another error for Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney, and comments from the head coach have now cast some doubt over his future.
Last week, it was an offside penalty that erased an iconic play from Travis Kelce. This week Toney popped up a pass that was intercepted, and it gave the New England Patriots life late in the game. It also caused some serious sideline frustration from QB Patrick Mahomes, which was captured by cameras.
After the 27-17 win, Andy Reid was asked point-blank whether he'd given any consideration to benching Toney after his recent wave of costly mistakes. While Reid was mostly positive in his tone, he also didn't rule out the possibility of benching Toney. The answer was quite noncommittal.
“We’ll see how things go,” Reid said. “I’m not down on Toney. He does some good things for us, man. He’s a young guy. We’re not talking about somebody who has been in this league a long time.”
Toney still has a lot to learn in his third year in the NFL, but at what point do the mistakes become too much? It doesn't sound like the head coach is ready to give up on the player or person, but it also sounds like there might be a short leash with the recent wave of errors and the frustration from their star quarterback.
As for Toney's teammates, their messages after the game were filled with nothing but encouragement.
"Just keep balling, man," Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon said in a postgame interview with NFL Network. "Don't even worry about it. Everybody makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Keep being you, keep being yourself. Everybody knows what you can do. Everybody knows what you mean to this team. A couple of plays don't define you as a player. We know what he brings. Just keep moving forward. That's what we're all about. The brotherhood. That's why we go through the hard times because it leads to something big."
Hopefully "something big" is not another costly error.
