When the 2023 NFL season ended, it didn’t appear an unreasonable assumption that wide receiver Kadarius Toney would never play for the Kansas City Chiefs again.

The former Blount High School quarterback did not play in Kansas City’s final seven games and had appeared to blast the organization on social media while the Chiefs were playing in the AFC Championship Game. When Toney came off the weekly injury report in time for Super Bowl LVIII, he still wasn’t active for Kansas City’s 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11.

But when asked about Toney this week as the Chiefs opened their offseason program, coach Andy Reid said Kansas City hoped to keep the wide receiver on the field more in 2024.

“Kadarius is arguably one of the most talented guys we have on the team,” Reid said. “It’s just a matter of staying healthy and being able to stay on the field, and you always hear about the reliability, accountability, all those things that go into it. And so I’m expecting him to come back ripping and ready to go. It’s great that he’s down there working with (quarterback) Pat (Mahomes) and putting the work in. So that’s a positive.

“Listen, we like Kadarius. It’s just a matter of having him on the field.”

While the Chiefs’ offseason program started on Monday, Mahomes is working with the team’s receivers in Texas.

“Coming off a 21-game season, it’s a short offseason,” Reid said. “It gives the guys an opportunity to stay away from here. Maybe a little bit more lax atmosphere, but at the same time get a ton of work done. And also there’s a little camaraderie that goes with it, which is important on the offensive side, that the guys work and play together and kind of are on the same page. And it gives Pat the opportunity, along with the quarterbacks, to kind of talk to the guys about what they see in a little bit slowed-down pace.

“It’s been effective for us. The guys have come back in great shape, and they’ve come back knowing what their responsibilities are. At the same time, they’re getting that influx of new and our scheme evaluation from last year thrown at them by the coaches (via Zoom).”

Toney had 27 receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown, ran 11 times for 31 yards and returned six punts for a 9.7-yard average in 13 games last season.

For the final six of those games, Toney appeared on Kansas City’s injury report for the week as he was listed for 12 consecutive games.

On his sixth missed game in a row, Toney appeared to dispute that hip and ankle injuries were keeping him sidelined, as the team’s injury report indicated. On an Instagram Live post on Jan. 28, Toney said he wasn’t hurt and seemed to accuse the Chiefs of fabricating his injury designations.

During Super Bowl Week, though, Toney said that wasn’t the case. He said his comments had been misconstrued and were intended for New York Giants fans. Toney has had a running social-media feud with Giants fans since his first NFL team traded him to Kansas City on Oct. 27, 2022.

After joining New York from Florida as the 20th selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, Toney played in 12 of the Giants’ next 24 games. He had 41 receptions for 420 yards, five runs for 29 yards and one punt return for zero yards. He had not scored an NFL touchdown when New York traded Toney to Kansas City for third- and sixth-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.

In 20 regular-season games with the Chiefs, Toney has the same number of receptions that he had with the Giants, and the 41 catches have produced 340 yards and three touchdowns for Kansas City. He also has 90 yards and one touchdown on 16 rushing attempts and 16 punt returns for a 7.4-yard average.

In three postseason games with the Chiefs, Toney has seven receptions for 50 yards and one touchdown, a 14-yard run and six punt returns for an 18.7-yard average.

Toney played a pivotal role in Kansas City’s 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12, 2023.

Toney had the longest punt return in Super Bowl history with a 65-yarder to the Philadelphia 5-yard line to set up a touchdown in the fourth quarter less than three minutes after he had caught a TD pass.

Toney’s 5-yard touchdown reception with 12:04 to play made him the third player from an Alabama high school to score in the Super Bowl. Tuscaloosa’s John Stallworth caught three touchdown passes during his four Super Bowl victories with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Stanhope Elmore’s Antowain Smith ran 2 yards for a touchdown in the New England Patriots’ 32-29 victory over the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1, 2004.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.