Here’s what Chiefs’ Reid, Mahomes said about Kadarius Toney’s injury and timeline

The Kansas City Chiefs will be without one of their top receivers in training camp — and perhaps even longer if his recovery doesn’t go as planned.

Coach Andy Reid announced Tuesday that wideout Kadarius Toney had surgery in the morning to repair cartilage in his knee. Toney injured himself during punt-return drills at Sunday’s first full-squad workout.

Regarding a timetable, Reid remained optimistic Tuesday that Toney’s return to game action could come in just over a month.

“There’s a chance (he’ll be ready) for the first game, but we’ll see. We’ll just have to see how the recovery goes with it,” Reid said. “But I mean, he’s bound and determined he’s gonna be there for the first game. We’ll see how it goes.”

Toney joined the Chiefs midseason last year following a trade with the New York Giants. Though the former first-round pick’s playing time was limited because of a hamstring ailment, Toney made two huge plays for the Chiefs in their Super Bowl LVII victory, catching a touchdown pass and setting up another score with a 65-yard punt return.

There was some hope from Chiefs coaches this offseason that Toney — given an entire year with the offense — could emerge as the team’s top receiving threat outside of tight end Travis Kelce. At the very least, those aspirations will be delayed a few weeks, though Reid stayed upbeat when talking about Toney’s knee on Tuesday at Missouri Western.

“I go, ‘I’m glad they caught it, 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. So he picks his stuff up fairly easy. I don’t think he’s gonna have a tough time getting back in. It’s just getting back into football shape.”

Reid said getting the surgery done would mean that Toney’s knee would be fully healthy when he does return. In other words, the medical treatment would ensure that the injury wouldn’t linger and then worsen throughout the season.

Toney posted a message on social media Tuesday afternoon.

“When you a Warrior nun kan stop you……Been fighting thru old injuries, adversity, and Obstacles all my life,” Toney wrote. “I Know God Got Me Fasho.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes said one advantage was that even following the surgery, Toney would be at training camp to attend the team’s offensive meetings. That meant the two would still be watching film together daily.

“We’re talking through everything that we’re doing,” Mahomes said. “And so as long as his head’s right there, and he’s learning that way, I have no doubt his physical ability will be there.”

Mahomes also used a video-game analogy to describe Toney’s continuing education with the offense, saying he joined the team last season when the Chiefs were in “advanced mode.” Because Toney is with the Chiefs at training camp this year, Mahomes says he can start at “beginner” while working through the playbook installation.

One thing Toney will miss the next few weeks, Mahomes said, is getting reps with the first-team offense. The pair worked a lot together during the summer months, though, and Mahomes said he isn’t worried about Toney’s overall talent.

Mahomes expects many others to fill in during Toney’s absence. That not only included receivers — Mahomes specifically mentioned Skyy Moore, Rashee Rice, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson — but also tight ends.

“I want guys to just be themselves,” Mahomes said. “I think you’ve seen in this offense, it can be ran a lot of different ways. And so obviously when Kadarius is in there, we run it one way because of his talent and what he can do. And when he’s not in there, we can run a different way to really accelerate the other guys’ talents.”

Reid confirmed that Toney had not had offseason surgery on the knee before Tuesday, as a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter had suggested Monday afternoon. Reid said Toney had surgery before, but it was when he was previously with the Giants.

In addition, Reid said Toney hurting himself during a punt-return drill didn’t necessarily mean that the receiver would be pulled off special teams in the future.

“Let’s see how he does. Let’s see how the rehab part goes,” Reid said. “If you have to have a surgery, I think we caught it at a good time. It looked like it was good when they were in there, all of that.

“So, as long as the recovery goes well ... I’m pulling for him in a positive way.”