Kadarius Toney: ‘God’s got a plan, I just stick to it’

Kadarius Toney: ‘God’s got a plan, I just stick to it’

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney sustained an ankle injury in the AFC Championship Game and did not practice last week. As late as Wednesday, the former Blount High School quarterback remained a limited participant as the Chiefs practiced in advance of Super Bowl LVII. But after two days as a full participant in practice, Toney appears ready for Sunday’s game.

“Yesterday, he did everything we asked him to,” Kansas City coach Andy Reid said on Thursday. “Today, he did the same thing.”

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Injuries have been an obstacle throughout Toney’s two NFL seasons.

Toney started the 2022 campaign with the New York Giants. He had played 35 offensive snaps with two receptions for zero yards and two rushing attempts for 23 yards in two games and hadn’t practiced since Oct. 5 because of a hamstring injury when the Giants traded him to the Chiefs on Oct. 27 for third- and sixth-round selections in the 2023 NFL Draft.

“At the end of the day it wasn’t my decision,’’ Toney said. “I’m in a position where I’m just grateful to be here. God’s got a plan, and I just stick to it regardless. I don’t have any comments about it. It is what it is. I don’t run the business side; I just play.’’

Toney returned to the field on Nov. 6 in Kansas City’s 20-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans. In seven regular-season and two playoff games for the Chiefs, Toney has 20 receptions for 216 yards and two touchdowns, six rushing attempts for 73 yards and one touchdown and 14 punt returns for a 6.9-yard average.

“I mean, I know I can play,” Toney said. “I mean, never been a problem. I just had nicks and injuries.”

Toney was an All-State quarterback at Blount High School in Prichard, and he won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 6A Back of the Year Award for the 2016 season, a year after he led the Leopards to a school-record 511 points. In his final two seasons at Blount, Toney threw for 6,498 yards and 69 touchdowns and ran for 1,790 yards and 31 touchdowns.

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Toney made the conversion to wide receiver at Florida, where he caught 70 passes for 984 yards and 10 touchdowns, ran for 161 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries and returned 11 punts for an average of 12.6 yards and one TD as a senior.

The Giants used the 20th selection in the 2021 NFL Draft on Toney. He had 39 receptions for 420 yards and 6 yards on three rushing attempts during his rookie season, when he missed seven games.

But among the 10 games in which Toney did play, he broke Odell Beckham’s franchise rookie record with 189 receiving yards in a 44-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 10, 2021.

Toney became the fifth player in the Super Bowl Era with a game of at least 189 receiving yards within the first five contests of his career, joining the Atlanta Falcons’ Ken Burrow in 1971, Buffalo Bills’ Jerry Butler in 1979, Minnesota Vikings’ Randy Moss in 1998 and Arizona Cardinals’ Anquan Boldin in 2003.

The Chiefs will square off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. FOX will televise the game.

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