Don’t be a superhero: How this Andy Reid trait can help Kadarius Toney rebound for KC
When even an absurdly talented athlete plays the worst game of his young career, one reeking of not mere miscues but lapses that might either reflect or morph into a crisis of confidence, it’s reasonable to wonder about his state of mind going forward.
Even if the fiasco was out of character, like it was for Kadarius Toney last week against Detroit.
Even if it could be rationalized — or perhaps even made explainable — by being asked to do too much too soon after returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for most of the preseason.
So this week is the next step in the rest of Toney’s career, perhaps even a pivotal one, and it’s impossible to know what that will look like on Sunday at Jacksonville because there’s no way into his inner monologue.
But when coach Andy Reid uses the phrase he did the other day — “the only way we’re going to get him back is playing him” — it speaks not only to a strategy but a substantial concern about one of the Chiefs’ most intriguing talents.
One worth addressing yet again, particularly in the context of how it illuminates Reid’s thinking. We’ll come back to that.
This much is clear, though. It’s a vital time for Toney to perform ... and imminently important for the Chiefs, even if it will be overshadowed now by the likely returns of Travis Kelce and Chris Jones on Sunday.
And the best way for Toney to purge any potential self-doubt lurking from the Chiefs’ 21-20 opening loss to Detroit — lowlighted by his three dropped passes, two of which independently likely would have changed the game’s outcome — is to replace it with fresh success.
A few essential ingredients go into that, including how he practices and his approach to accountability — which Toney at last publicly demonstrated Wednesday after he was not available in front of his locker following the game, and after he shut down his account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
(Sidebar: Toney did take to his Instagram account in the strange pursuit of taunting fans of the New York Giants, his former team, as they were on the way to a 40-0 loss to Dallas on Sunday. Toney twice on Wednesday disputed that it was an obsession of his, saying, “They troll me; I troll them back.”)
Taking questions from the media at the Chiefs’ practice facility, Toney used the podium to convey variations of how his brutal game against the Lions was entirely his fault.
No excuses, he’d say. Nothing to blame it on — beyond himself, was the implication. And, bottom line, “I knew I could have made those plays.”
At the same, he also was cognizant of not dwelling on the past, recent as it might be, and the need for positive thinking now.
Toward that end, it’s not known whether Toney now or previously has turned to a sports psychologist such as team clinician Shaun Tyrance, the Chiefs’ vice president of player services and assessment.
But we know he’s been in heavy consultation with an expert in the field: Reid, the fifth-winningest coach in NFL history (one away from tying Tom Landry for fourth at 270 overall) for numerous reasons, including his offensive creativity and rugged training camps.
The trait that brings it all together, though, is Reid’s ability to motivate by channeling the allegiance of his players.
And one of the many ways Reid conjures that is by going right back to players he believes in when they have glitches.
Perhaps the most extreme example was Kareen Hunt in 2017: After he fumbled away his first career carry on the team’s first play from scrimmage at New England in 2017, with the Chiefs already trailing 7-0, Reid went right back to Hunt (for a 9-yard-gain) on the next play from scrimmage. Hunt finished the night with 148 rushing yards and 98 receiving yards in a 42-27 victory over the Patriots.
It’s easy to think of any number of other examples, even if they’re a bit more spread out: Current running backs Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco and former Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman are among the beneficiaries of that tendency the last few years, as were rookie receiver Rashee Rice and Toney in the opener.
And you can count Toney, a 2021 first-round draft pick cast aside by the Giants last season, among the legion who appreciate and respond to Reid’s support.
Toney expressed just that to me after being a crucial force in Super Bowl LVII, particularly with his 65-yard punt return: “I mean, most coaches, anything (goes) wrong, they hissy-fit, cry, complain or whatever, you know?
“Him (Reid), you mess up anything, he’ll come over and crack a joke with you. … He’s coming back to you if you mess up anything. He’s just a coach that you want to play for. You want to go out there and do all you can for him.”
And he reiterated it again on Wednesday when I asked him what his several meetings with Reid had been like since last week.
The message from Reid in an interview the other day was that dropping passes simply isn’t who Toney is.
And to Toney directly, as Toney put it, it was this:
“Just settle down. Just be the person I am. Never try to overdo or overstep what I normally do … Don’t try to be a superhero.”
It helps, too, when superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes offers reassurance that he still trusts Toney. Mahomes expressed that with the media after the game, and directly to Toney, as well.
“They’ve got trust,” Toney said. “They’ve got faith in me.”
You can bet you’ll see that on Sunday.
As well as where Toney’s faith in himself stands.