Kadarius Toney may end injury-riddled rookie season on the field for Giants
Kadarius Toney is second on the Giants in catches and receiving yards but has only played in four full games. Credit: Mike Stobe
Kadarius Toney may be able to finish his rookie season on the field after missing five of the Giants' last six games because of illness or injury. The first-round pick’s most recent malady is a shoulder issue that kept him from playing against the Bears, but unlike last week he participated in Wednesday’s practice and was designated as limited.
"They’ve all been legit injuries," Joe Judge said of the many that Toney has faced this season, including ankle, hamstring, thumb, quad and oblique . . . not to mention two bouts of COVID-19. "There’s nothing that he’s stayed off the field from for an extended amount of time that he couldn’t play through."
Cumulatively, though, the long list of ailments has made for an uninspiring first season with the Giants in which he has appeared in only nine games and completed only six (one of them because of an ejection for fighting). The injuries also made him a non-factor the first two games of the season after missing most of training camp, so the Giants have really only had him available for four full games.
That he is second on the team in both receptions (39) and receiving yards (420) despite so little time speaks to the failures of the rest of the offense, but also to just how much the Giants need Toney to be a reliable contributor going forward.
"These are all things that just happen," Judge said. "I think the biggest thing for any player to do is just train their body in the offseason as much as they can to build that base of muscle and build that recovery for your body. The more you train, the easier your body recovers, but there are bumps and bruises and you have to learn to just manage your body throughout the season. That’s for any rookie."
Notes & quotes: Icy roads and a number of traffic-blocking accidents prevented several players and coaches from reaching the Giants’ facility on time Wednesday morning. Judge said some of them called and were ready to try walking to work but were advised against it. DT Dexter Lawrence was the only player unable to complete the commute in time for the late morning walk-through . . . The weather, which also left the outdoor practice fields frozen, sent the Giants indoors for their first of two walk-throughs. They were able to work on the outdoor fields by the afternoon . . . WR Darius Slayton, OL Korey Cunningham and DT Danny Shelton were all cleared from COVID protocols and back with the team for the ramp-up process. Lawrence was part of that ramp-up group as well . . . Rookie LB Elerson Smith (neck) was placed on injured reserve . . . DL Leonard Williams was named the 21st annual winner of the newly renamed George Young-Ernie Accorsi Good Guy Award voted on by the Giants chapter of the Professional Football Writers of America.
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.
More Giants
