Wide receiver Kadarius Toney said Monday night that his profanity-filled rant on social media wasn’t directed at the Kansas City Chiefs and instead was directed at fans of his former team, the New York Giants.
In an Instagram Live post that went viral on the Sunday of the AFC Championship Game, Toney said, “I’m not hurt. None of that.” His comments were interpreted as him saying he didn’t have the hip and ankle injuries the Chiefs had listed for him on their weekly injury reports.
On Monday, at Super Bowl opening night, Toney clarified that that wasn’t the case. He told NFL Network that he got interrupted by comments on his feed that day and that when the video was released it was “chopped up,” making it seem like “I was attacking doing what I love the most.”
“I never attacked the Chiefs, never said anything about the Chiefs. Who I was referring to was the Giants fans and the people in my comments, my comment box, not even on my live recording, so you wouldn’t even know they were there. But I was referring to them, which I shouldn’t have. I just wanted to go out there. I just wanted to get my message across as far as my injury, but I shouldn’t have did that at the end of the day. I’m a man and I can accept my mistakes just like I accept my wins. I’m just moving past that right now. We’re trying to go out and trying to win [the Super Bowl].”
Toney was traded by the Giants to the Chiefs last season and since the trade has often made derogatory posts on social media about his former team.
His injury comments prompted questions about whether the Chiefs were filing erroneous injury reports, and coach Andy Reid had to declare on Jan. 29 that the injuries the team had listed for Toney were “not made up by any means.”
Toney hasn’t played since a Week 15 game against the New England Patriots in which he deflected a pass to a defender for an interception for the second time this season. He is no longer listed on the Chiefs’ injury report, however.
The Chiefs were counting on Toney to carry a big workload this season, but he has just 27 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown. He also was called for an offside penalty in a Dec. 11 loss to the Buffalo Bills that negated his go-ahead touchdown on an improvised lateral from Travis Kelce. Reid later said that Toney didn’t check with the sideline official to make sure he was lined up correctly.
Toney played a big role in last season’s Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles by catching one touchdown and returning a punt 65 yards to set up another, both in the fourth quarter.
ESPN’s Adam Teicher contributed to this report.