Chiefs Coach Andy Reid denied providing inaccurate injury information about Kadarius Toney on Monday after the wide receiver went on an expletive-laden social media rant in which he appeared to accuse the team of lying about his health.
Toney was ruled out of Sunday’s AFC championship win in Baltimore because of his hip and personal reasons following the birth of his daughter. But in an Instagram Live post, the 25-year-old Toney insisted amid a stream of expletives that, “I’m not hurt.”
“Well, obviously he’s been on the injury report. That part is not made up by any means,” Reid replied, when asked about the post on a Zoom call with local reporters Monday. “He’s been working through some things and he’ll be back out there.”
The Chiefs return to practice Thursday. They face San Francisco in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.
Teams and coaches can be fined by the NFL for issuing inaccurate or misleading injury reports. In December, then-Falcons coach Arthur Smith was fined $25,000 and the team $75,000 for failing to disclose that running back Bijan Robinson was dealing with an illness that had limited him in a game against Tampa Bay earlier in the season.
Toney has not played since Week 15 against New England, when he let a pass slip through his hands for an interception. He also had a dropped pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown in Week 1 against Detroit, and his much-publicized offside penalty in Week 14 against Buffalo wiped out a go-ahead touchdown reception in the closing minutes.
Reid said he had not seen Toney’s social media post, but heard people discussing it. When asked whether Toney remained on the team, Reid replied: “He’ll be back out there and we’ll see how he does.”
The Chiefs traded third- and sixth-round picks to the Giants for Toney in October 2022, hoping to unlock the potential they saw in him coming out of Florida. And despite dealing with injuries last season, too, Toney delivered in the playoffs. He had five catches in a divisional-round win over Jacksonville and a touchdown reception in a Super Bowl win over Philadelphia.
SUPER BOWL TICKETS: Tickets on at least one secondary-market site were the most expensive in Super Bowl history, underscoring the anticipation of the game’s Las Vegas debut between the defending champion and what likely is the most popular team in the West.
Oh, and the great possibility Taylor Swift will be on hand when the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11.
The average purchase price on TickPick was $9,815 on Monday morning. That’s nearly double the final average price of $5,795 for last year’s game between the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Arizona, although current prices could decline.
It’s also more than the previous high of $7,046 for the 2021 game in Tampa, Florida, between the Buccaneers and the Chiefs. The stadium was at 33% capacity because of COVID-19 restrictions, increasing the demand for each ticket.
TickPick’s highest non-COVID Super Bowl was in 2020 at Miami Gardens, Florida, when the Chiefs and Niners met for the first time in the championship game. That average price was $6,370.
The cheapest ticket on TickPick for this year’s game was $8,188 on Monday, more than the $5,997 low price at this point last year.
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