Giants rookie Kadarius Toney doesn't dress because of undisclosed injury
Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard looks on from the field during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on July 28. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Kadarius Toney aggravated an undisclosed injury late in the week, Joe Judge said on Saturday night while explaining why the Giants' first-round pick was not only absent from the preseason game against the Jets but not on the team’s sideline.
"Any injured player who was not going to be able to play we didn’t put them on the sideline," Judge said after the 12-7 loss to the Jets at MetLife Stadium. "He’s been dealing with something a little bit and it’s something that was aggravated toward the tail end of this week, so he was unable to compete."
That is a change to Toney’s status. Until Saturday Judge had maintained that Toney was being monitored but was not injured. Saturday disclosed the not-so-secret news that he has, in fact, been dealing with an ailment.
That he was not even able to warm up with the team in the pregame as many of the starters who did not play were able to is a bit of a concern, but Judge said he is "hopeful" that Toney will be able to return to practice this week. The Giants have one workout at their facility on Tuesday before traveling to Cleveland for joint practices with the Browns.
Judge said the only injured player he allowed on the sideline on Saturday was Saquon Barkley, who he had ruled out previously as he returns from ACL surgery this preseason. Other starters who sat this one out – Daniel Jones, Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram and others – did warm up and spent the night strolling the sideline.
Toney’s career with the Giants has already had more strange sidenotes than scintillating plays. It began at rookie minicamp when he struggled with new cleats and had to practice with one bare foot. He started training camp on the COVID-19/reserve list. Since his return from the virus he has participated in only a handful of full practices and was limited for most of this past week.
Notes & quotes: Because of an ankle injury to back-up guard Kyle Murphy and a lack of depth on the interior of the offensive line, veteran Kenny Wiggins had to turn in the longest night on the team. He started, came out for a bit while Murphy played, then returned to play most of the second quarter and all of the second half. "Kenny is a tough dude," Judge said. "Having to answer the bell there and play 60 minutes, Kenny is the kind of guy who is not going to complain" … Austrian RB Sandro Platzgummer proved to be the most explosive offensive player for the Giants. He ran for 51 yards, including a 48-yard dash in the fourth quarter from the Giants’ 1. The play had both Saquon Barkley and Sterling Shepard on their feet cheering on the roster longshot who was with the team on an international player exemption last season … The Giants’ offense struggled to move the ball all night. Three plays – Platzgummer’s run and receptions by David Sills (37) and Damion Willis (21) accounted for 106 of their 163 yards of offense … Besides Murphy who was carted off, TE Cole Hikutini (hip) and LB TJ Brunson (leg) also left the game with injuries. Third-string quarterback Clayton Thorson was shaken up while taking a safety in the final minutes of the game.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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