Patrick Mahomes still has trust in Kadarius Toney after brutal TNF outing
Patrick Mahomes still says he has trust in Kadarius Toney. At least, that he proclaimed to reporters. But we have no idea if he’ll speak to the receiver about what unfolded in a 21-20 season-opening loss to the Lions.
No single player ever is to blame for a loss. But in tight games, any dropped ball is a factor. Now, try three of them.
The Patrick Mahomes-to-Kadarius Toney connection, which had sizzled at the Super Bowl, fizzled in the season opener at Aarowhead Stadium. With all-everything tight end Travis Kelce sidelined with a knee injury, it was imperative for the Chiefs receivers to do more in his absence. Mahomes including anyone who could catch a ball. He targeted 12 different receivers.
“Stuff’s not always going to go your way, obviously. He would’ve wanted to catch a few of those in the game,” Mahomes said of Toney. “But I have trust that he’s gonna be that guy that I go to in those crucial moments, and he’s gonna make the catch and win us some seasons like he did last year. So we’re gonna continue to work him in, get him more and more reps, and I’m sure those drops will kind of disappear.”
Toney’s biggest mistake was deflecting a pass he should’ve caught into the arms of Lions defensive back Brian Branch, a rookie from Alabama. Branch returned the interception 50 yards for a touchdown to allow Detroit to tie the game at 14-14 with about 11 minutes to go in the third quarter.
Mahomes threw five passes Toney’s way. The former Florida Gator caught one of them for five yards. He also dropped three passes. Obviously, one led to the interception. He dropped another third-down toss later in the third quarter. Then with 2 minutes, 25 seconds to go, Toney couldn’t pull down a long pass that would’ve placed the Chiefs in winnable field goal range.
Toney wasn’t the only receiver with butter fingers. Skyy Moore, who was a training camp star, failed to catch a pass although Mahomes threw his way three times. He also got both hands on a pass that would’ve converted a fourth-and-25.
After the game, both Toney and Moore left the lockerroom before it was opened for reporters to do interviews. Then Toney deactivated his Twitter account.
Toney suffered a knee injury in late July and missed most of training camp. So no doubt, he needed to shake a lot of competitive rust.
Patrick Mahomes didn’t say anything that suggests he’s lost faith in the likes of Kadarius Toney or Skyy Moore. The Chiefs still have 16 regular season games to play.
“I think they know I’m going to keep firing it,” Mahomes told reporters. “So we’ll try to get it fixed this next week and correct it going into next game.”