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Giants’ Kadarius Toney on limited role: ‘Disappointed in victory? You sound crazy’

Writer David Perry

Despite limited time on the field in the Giants’ season-opening win Sunday, wide receiver Kadarius Toney is looking at the bigger picture.

No, he said, he was not disappointed with his lack of snaps.

“Disappointed in a victory? Disappointed in winning?” Toney said Wednesday. “You sound crazy.”

The 23-year-old, second-year wide receiver became a source of speculation after he took limited snaps in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Titans. Even though rookie receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was sidelined early with a knee injury, Toney only finished with seven snaps.

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To outsiders, it seemed a surprisingly low number, but Toney isn’t complaining, saying Wednesday that he just did his job, even if that was only for a few plays.

“I get paid to play, not coach,” Toney said. “I don’t know what the plan was. At the end of the day, I just prepared as if I was going in and playing every play. I don’t know what else to say.”

Toney finished the game with two carries for 23 yards, including a 19-yard gain on his first touch in the final quarter.

When asked in Sunday’s postgame if he’d like to get Toney more involved, Daboll pointed to the team’s number of active receivers (six), saying it depends on the week’s game plan and everything leading up to it. He also cited the plays with the receiver’s “personnel groups” not being called as often as others. Toney missed a large chunk of training camp with a hamstring injury, but Daboll said Monday there were no concerns about his playbook knowledge. The decision circled back to week-by-week evaluations.

“If that’s what’s required, that’s what I’ve got to do,” Toney said. “Everybody knows I had the injury a couple of weeks ago, and that’s why I wasn’t on the field. I guess that’s just with that, I don’t know. I don’t know what to say.”

Toney dealt with multiple injuries in his rookie season, then reportedly underwent minor knee surgery in the spring. Toney said that he’s been feeling healthy. He was a full participant in practice all of last week leading up to the game.

After the win, Toney said, conversations with coaches trended toward the future.

“It’s bigger than one game,” he said. “We’ve got a 17-game season — that’s always the mentality.”

Beyond Toney, the Giants’ use of their wide receivers in Week 1 was not what many expected. And given the somewhat atypical number of wide receivers the Giants are carrying on the active roster (seven), we decided to take a look at where things stand which each of them.

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Kenny Golladay

Golladay played a position-leading 46 snaps (out of 60) on Sunday but totaled just two receptions for 22 yards. The 28-year-old has a lot of eyes on him this year thanks to the $72-million contract he signed with the Giants last offseason and the fact that he’s coming off a disappointing debut — 37 catches, 521 yards and zero touchdowns in 2021.

It’s possible the financial repercussions of cutting Golladay loose saved his roster spot this year, but it would certainly benefit quarterback Daniel Jones and the rest of the offense if Golladay rediscovered the form that earned him the big contract to begin with. It’s only one week, but he’s off to shaky start.

Sterling Shepard

Shepard came off the physically unable to perform list in August, returning from a torn Achilles in less than nine months. He wasted no time in his return, either, leading the Giants in receiving yards (71) on Sunday on two catches. Sixty-five of those yards, of course, came by blowing past Tennessee cornerback Kristian Fulton and hauling in a long Jones pass for the second Giants touchdown of the season.

Sterling Shepard joins the TD party. 🥳#TogetherBlue | #Kickoff2022

— NFL Canada (@NFLCanada) September 11, 2022

“I wasn’t going to be denied on that one,” Shepard said. “It has been a long time coming, a long road for me, so I just thank God, man. It was some dark times going through recovery.”

Shepard finished second among his position-mates in snaps (43). He is the Giants’ longest-tenured player but took a pay cut this offseason while rehabbing. Closing in on 30 years old, he’ll likely hit free agency this offseason but could boost his value this season by benefiting from being a familiar and reliable target for Jones.

Richie James

Few saw this coming. During the preseason, James was a question mark to even make the roster and now, entering Week 2, he’s the Giants’ most-targeted (six) wide receiver. James admitted he had “no clue” he’d play as much as he did on Sunday; he played 70 percent of the offensive snaps (42) in addition to six special teams snaps. Playing primarily in the slot, his six targets trailed only Saquon Barkley. He finished with five receptions for 59 yards. Whether he continues to be so heavily targeted — at least by comparison to his fellow receivers — will be interesting to follow going forward, but the Giants clearly like the Jones to James connection.

go-deeper

“I think everyone is different,” James said of the receivers group. “A couple guys do some similar things, but as far as what I do better than everyone else, I can’t really say. I don’t compare myself to the next guy. I just kind of do what I need to do and then go on from there.”

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David Sills

One of the more surprising things to happen Sunday was Sills taking the field for the first snap of the game. The 26-year-old has journeyed from being an undrafted free agent in 2019 to just making the Week 1 roster this season. After missing the 2020 season with a fractured foot, he played four games for the Giants last season. Now fully healthy, and coming off an offseason in which he worked with a personal receivers coach as well as Daniel Jones, Sills seems to be in position to succeed.

On Sunday, he played 27 snaps, but was not targeted. During the first half, Sills found himself wide open downfield, but Jones didn’t see him and instead checked down to Barkley for a smaller gain. Still, Sills was on the field at some important moments, including the Giants final scoring drive, helping divert defensive attention away from Chris Myarick on his touchdown.

The @giants fans have something they haven’t had in a long time. REAL HOPE! Daboll brought the seeds… @nyg_nation10 @nygdaily @jordanraanan @nypost_schwartz @licenseplateguy @getupespn @espngreeny @dangrazianoespn

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) September 12, 2022

Wan’Dale Robinson

The rookie played nine snaps before exiting the game in the first half with a knee injury. In the postgame locker room, Robinson said that on the play he caught the ball — he recorded one catch Sunday — he got hit in an awkward way. While he thought he could keep going, he didn’t feel 100 percent and thought he should say something. Ultimately, he said, it was the coach’s call for him not to play.

Robinson did not participate in Wednesday’s practice, and Daboll said he’s day-to-day.

Darius Slayton

Slayton is healthy but was inactive on Sunday. The scratch came after Slayton took a pay cut last week, which helped the Giants create more cap room. Given the injury situation with Robinson along with Toney’s uncertain standing, keeping Slayton could be beneficial now. But his long-term status remains something to watch.

(Photo: Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images)