Why didn't Kadarius Toney play more in Giants' win?
Safety Amani Hooker #37 of the Tennessee Titans attempts to tackle wide receiver Kadarius Toney #89 of the New York Giants during the second half at Nissan Stadium on September 11, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. Credit: Getty Images
Brian Daboll had a simple explanation for Kadarius Toney’s nearly complete absence from Sunday’s win over the Titans.
He thought the Giants had better options.
“It’s a competitive situation,” Daboll said Monday of the receiver rotation. “They’ll be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Relative to inactives or play time or amount of plays, everybody’s got to earn their role. One week it might be a whole game; one week it might be less.”
On Sunday it certainly was less for Toney, a former first-round pick, even after Wan’Dale Robinson left the game early with a knee injury. Toney wound up playing only seven offensive snaps and touched the ball twice, once on a handoff and once on a lateral in which he looked to throw a pass but ran with it instead.
By contrast, David Sills played 27 offensive snaps at receiver, Richie James played 42 and Sterling Shepard, coming back from an Achilles tear, played 43. James said he “had no clue” he would be on the field so often.
In fact, the only active offensive players who saw less playing time than Toney were backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor (no snaps) and backup offensive lineman Devery Hamilton (part of jumbo package on the fourth-and-1 on the final drive).
Toney missed about a month of work in training camp because of a leg injury but was not on the injury report last week. Daboll said his health had nothing to do with how little he played.
“We had more than just seven plays for [Toney], but they weren’t called,” Daboll said. “We’ll see what happens this week . . . We have confidence in Kadarius.”
Just not enough to play him much at all on Sunday.
Notes & quotes: Daboll said rookie WR Robinson is “day-to-day,” suggesting he avoided any long-term structural damage to the knee joint. Robinson left Sunday’s game in the first quarter shortly after making his first (and only) NFL reception for a 5-yard gain . . . O-lineman K.C. McDermott was signed to the practice squad. He is the brother of former Giants practice squad lineman Shane McDermott.
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.
