Getty Giants rookie Kadarius Toney made himself look even worse when he blasted the media for being "clowns" in his latest Instagram story.
It’s safe to say that New York Giants‘ first-round draft pick Kadarius Toney has had a rocky start to his NFL career.
And on Friday, one day after he expressed his displeasure on Instagram regarding the team’s usage of him, or lack thereof, he dug himself an even deeper grave by calling the media “clowns” in his latest controversial story on IG.
“Media sum clowns…but I’m above dat….Literally,” wrote Toney.
Kadarius Toney calls the media “clowns” on Instagram #Giants
What Toney is referring to of course, is the whirlwind of headlines he created, following the Giants’ soul-crushing 30-29 loss on a last-second field goal to Washington on Thursday night. After receiving just 19 offensive snaps in the Giants’ Week 2 contest, drawing 0 targets or carries, Toney made his first controversial post, voicing his frustrations on social media.
“I don’t be mad s*** just be lame to me fr,” Toney wrote.
Kadarius Toney posted this to Instagram. He was visibly upset at one point on the sideline in the second half after speaking with Joe Judge.
Nothing at a Golladay-Jones level, but clearly wasn’t happy.
According to NJ.com’s Zack Rosenblatt, Toney was visibly upset on the sideline during the game, after having a conversation with head coach Joe Judge in the third quarter. Toney did not play another snap for the rest of the evening.
Through the first two weeks of his pro career, Toney has two receptions for -2 yards, which both came in the season opener against the Denver Broncos, where he logged a mere five snaps.
Toney missed the entirety of training camp and preseason, after contracting COVID and then going down with a hamstring injury while trying to build his conditioning back up to return.
This factor has clearly affected the Giants’ decision to not implement Toney into the game plan more through the early part of the season.
But after general manager Dave Gettleman selected him with the No. 20 overall pick, they must start seeing more return on their investment. Luckily, there are still 15 games to go in the regular season, so Toney has time to re-write the script, and make all of this negative buzz around him go away.
He Said vs. She Said
While Toney clearly seems unhappy with his role in the early part of this young NFL season, he tweeted out a message that contradicted his first post on Friday afternoon.
“Y’all try to turn anything into something … SMH, we good over here.”
Be that as it may, a source “familiar with Toney’s thinking” told Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com otherwise.
“No use in having a sports car and not driving it,” the source told NJ Advance Media.
Toney’s Father Weighs In
Things have gotten so messy with Toney’s image in the past few days that his own father has rushed to his defense to try to clean things up.
According to Dana Toney, no one in his son’s inner-circle is upset with his limited playing time. Toney’s father also went as far as to say the quote used by NJ.com was outdated and taken out of context.
“We just have to trust the process of the organization — and I’m not wavering from that,” Dana Toney told Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post. “None of that other stuff is true. We enjoyed ourselves at the Meadowlands last Sunday, and I look forward to coming back. The Giants were beautiful toward us. Our team is going to be good.”
Head coach Joe Judge also downplayed the Toney situation and instead shifted the focus to the rookie’s strong work ethic.
“In terms of trying to gauge somebody’s emotions, I judge them based on their actions — and I’ve seen a guy that’s come to practice every day and the meetings and been attentive,” Judge told reporters. “He’s worked hard on the field. He’s going to continue to improve as a player and build himself in as an intricate part of our offense.”