Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney is not expected to play Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII, a league source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Toney was one of the stars of Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory last year over the Philadelphia Eagles but has struggled with injuries and inconsistent play this season.
Toney hasn’t played since a Week 15 game against the New England Patriots in which he deflected a pass to a defender for an interception for the second time this season. He was not listed on the Chiefs’ injury report, however, for the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Tuesday that “we’ll see,” when asked whether Toney would play in the Super Bowl, adding that Toney has “been practicing, we’ll just see whether he’s up or not.”
Toney also made headlines off the field earlier this postseason, when he said he was “not hurt” in a viral Instagram Live post after the Chiefs’ victory in the AFC Championship Game. Those comments were interpreted as Toney saying he didn’t have the hip and ankle injuries that the Chiefs had listed for him on their weekly injury reports.
Toney clarified last Monday that his profanity-filled rant was directed at fans of his former team — the New York Giants — and that he “never attacked the Chiefs, never said anything about the Chiefs.”
The Chiefs were counting on Toney to carry a big workload this season, but he has just 27 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown. He also was called for an offside penalty in a Dec. 11 loss to the Buffalo Bills that negated his go-ahead touchdown on an improvised lateral from Travis Kelce. Reid later said that Toney didn’t check with the sideline official to make sure he was lined up correctly.
Toney played a big role in last season’s Super Bowl win over the Eagles by catching one touchdown and returning a punt 65 yards to set up another, both in the fourth quarter.
ESPN’s Adam Teicher contributed to this report.