Chiefs' Kadarius Toney has surgery for torn meniscus in his knee

Published Jul. 25, 2023 5:43 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Wide receiver Kadarius Toney underwent surgery Tuesday morning for a torn meniscus in his knee.

However Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid hasn’t ruled Toney out of the team’s season opener against Detroit.

“There is a chance for the first game, but we’ll see,” Reid said after Tuesday’s practice. “We’ll just have to see how other recovery goes with him. But he’s bound and determined he’s gonna be there for the first game. We’ll see how it goes.”

Toney tweaked his knee just minutes into Sunday’s opening practice of the team’s training camp at Missouri Western State University. Toney was receiving punts during warmups when he injured the cartilage in his knee. Reid said Toney previously had surgery on the same knee while with the New York Giants.

“He might have had a little something in there anyways, and it just caught a little bit more,” Reid said. “So you take care of those things.”

The Chiefs expect a significant role from Toney this season after he joined the club last season in an Oct. 27 trade with the Giants. Toney played in parts of seven games with the Chiefs while hauling in 14 catches for 171 yards and two scores. He also played a key role in the team’s Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles, catching a 5-yard touchdown pass and returning a punt for 65 yards that set up another score.

With the speedster Toney on the sideline for now, quarterback Patrick Mahomes expects to lean more on the team’s other starting receivers, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore. Justin Watson and rookie Rashee Rice also saw more snaps in practice with Toney missing.

Mahomes believes the team’s offense can adjust without Toney out of the lineup.

“When Kadarius is in there, we run it one way because of his talent and what he can do,” Mahomes said. “When he’s not in there, we can run a different way to really accelerate the other guys’ talents. Guys like Skyy Moore and Rashee Rice will step up as well as guys like Marquez and Justin Watson.”

Reid says he’s not concerned about Toney falling behind while missing training camp with the injury.

“I’m glad they caught it, you know that it happened this early, where he can get himself back and we got a lot of time still left,” Reid said. “He’s a smart kid. He picks this stuff up fairly easy. I don’t think he’s going to have a tough time getting back in. It’s just getting back into football shape.”

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