FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney has had a difficult season as a weapon in the offense.
Toney is part of a receiver room that has been highly criticized for underperforming, running the wrong routes and their drops lead the NFL.
During the Chiefs' win over the New England Patriots on Sunday, Toney suffered two drops. The final drop came in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs were up 27-10 and Toney bobbled an accurate Patrick Mahomes pass that ended with a Patriots interception and touchdown two plays later.
Mahomes was visibly frustrated after the play.
Rookie Rashee Rice leads the Chiefs in drops with eight, but also leads the team with seven receiving touchdowns, a rookie record, and leads the wide receivers in yards.
When asked about sitting Toney down from the starting lineup, head coach Andy Reid took his usual approach.
"We'll see how things go," Reid said. "I'm not down on Toney. He's done some good things. He's a young guy. We're not talking about somebody that has been in this league a long time."
This comment comes a week after an offensive offsides call on Toney led to a go-ahead Chiefs touchdown being taken off the board in the last two minutes of their game against the Buffalo Bills.
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy called the penalty a teaching moment for the receivers and Mahomes and Travis Kelce voiced support for him as well.
Reid has sat players down before when they've struggled in games.
Earlier this season, Reid took left tackle Jawaan Taylor out of their games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in consecutive weeks after he had several penalties called on him for false start and holding.
On Monday after the Bills game, Reid had this to say about Toney when asked if he should receive more coaching before he gets more playing time.
“Well, the thing I know is he makes plays. He makes plays when the ball is in his hands, and that’s the important part," Reid said.
"He’s a young guy. I mean, he’s not coming to us with a ton of experience, but I think he’s getting better every week. This is one of those things. I don’t see that as being a negative. I look at the things he produced on too."
Reid has been willing to let Toney learn and get better while playing since he has had some big moments as a former 2021 first-round pick.
The Chiefs have also been holding Toney off because of his injury history and these past few games are some of his most memorable snaps to date.
The 24-year-old has only played in 25% of the offensive snaps in his first full year as a Chief.
This season, Toney has recorded 164 yards and a TD on 25 catches.
