Kadarius Toney is making Joe Schoen look good.
The former Giants wide receiver had big-time trouble holding onto the ball in the Chiefs’ 21-20 loss Thursday to the Lions.
Toney, who was was expected to help make up for the loss of injured tight end Travis Kelce, had one reception on five targets in Kansas City’s loss and had a ball bounce off his hands for a game-changing Detroit pick-six.
However Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he still believes in Toney, who recorded two other drops on the night.
“I have trust in [Toney],” Mahomes said, per ESPN. “He missed a lot of training camp, and obviously he wanted to play and fought [during] rehab hard so he could play and stuff’s not always going to go your way.”
Toney missed training camp after having surgery for torn meniscus, so the practice reps with Mahomes aren’t there.
“Obviously he would’ve wanted to catch a few of those in the game, but I’ve trusted he’s going to be that guy that I go to in those crucial moments, and he’s going to make the catch and win us some games like he did last year,” Mahomes said.
“So we’re going to continue to work him in, get him more and more reps, and I’m sure that those drops will kind of disappear.”
Toney wasn’t the only Chiefs skill player with a case of the drops Thursday.
Wide receiver Rashee Rice dropped one in the opening minutes, wideout Skyy Moore had one bounce off his hands, as did backup tight end Noah Gray and Jerick McKinnon, a running back known for his dependable hands.
As you would expect, that didn’t sit well with Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
“It’s unusual for us to drop that many passes anywhere, any time, so we’ll go back and work on that,” Reid said. “You got to take care of business and these guys know that, so we’ll fix it.”
Toney, a first-round pick of the Giants in 2021, was sent to Kansas City last season for a pair of 2023 draft picks.
While Toney went on to win a Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs, Schoen, the Giants GM, turned those picks into tight end Darren Waller and rookie cornerback Tre Hawkins, leaving the Giants with long-term upside from the deal.
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