Giants hope to have Kadarius Toney available for Sunday's game
Kadarius Toney of the Giants runs with the ball after making a catch against the Los Angeles Rams at MetLife Stadium on Oct 17. Credit: Mike Stobe
Tyke Tolbert is doing everything he can to get Kadarius Toney on the field Sunday against the Eagles.
"I’ve got my fingers, toes and eyes crossed that he’ll be ready to come back," the wide receivers coach said.
Toney took his first step toward that goal on Friday when he practiced for the first time since suffering a quadriceps injury in the loss to the Bucs on Nov. 22. He dealt with that injury plus an oblique strain that bugged him for several weeks, and then, about two weeks ago, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was sidelined with that.
How long has he been out? The last time he played, Jason Garrett was calling the shots for the offense.
On Thursday, Toney returned to the building and was removed from COVID/reserve after the team’s workout. On Friday, he was listed as limited on the daily practice report and questionable for Sunday’s game on the injury report.
Toney would give Jake Fromm, who is expected to start at quarterback, a second dynamic target in the passing game along with Kenny Golladay. But Toney’s participation remains a big if, certainly more than the other players designated as questionable coming back from COVID, including linebacker Oshane Ximines and defensive back J.R. Reed.
"That’s definitely a different challenge because you’ve got to consider not only coming off of the inactivity and the symptoms, you also have to consider where they’re at with the injury," coach Joe Judge said of players dealing with both matters. "They haven’t really been able to be with our trainers, they haven’t been able to do a lot of the rehab and activity on the field. That’s just a natural setback right there. Just not having them out here, that’s an issue you’ve got to deal with."
It's a similar issue for starting cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, who missed two games with a quadriceps injury before landing on the COVID list. As of Friday, he had yet to rejoin the team
"You’re concerned about guys like Adoree’," Judge said. "Are you playing with fire a little bit if you try to get them back and get them ramped up within that one-day report of getting directly into the game? There are some things we have to consider with that."
The biggest consideration with Toney is getting him back on the field at some point so he has a chance to put a positive punctuation on the end of what has been a fairly disappointing rookie season.
"He’s champing at the bit to get out there, just so you know," Tolbert said. "He wants to play, he wants to be out there with his teammates. He’s had some unfortunate situations come up throughout the course of the year. That’s unfortunate, but he wants to play and it’s important for him to come out here and get these last couple of games under his belt so he can have some momentum going through the offseason and into next season."
Notes & quotes: Wide receiver Colin Johnson (hamstring) was ruled out after popping up on the injury report Friday. The Giants also will be without running back Gary Brightwell (neck) and offensive lineman Ben Bredeson (ankle).
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.
