The New York Giants put together an impressive draft class this offseason, which was headlined by first-round pick Kadarius Toney, the wide receiver out of Florida. Toney hasn't exactly had the best start to his pro career, however, with the most recent development being his placement on the COVID-19 list last week before being activated on Tuesday. Despite issues in rookie minicamp and an unconventional holdout, Giants head coach Joe Judge wants everyone to know that he believes all that Toney has dealt with this offseason has been "overinflated."
"This guy does a tremendous job in meetings," Judge said, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. "He does a great job in walkthroughs. He practices hard. So that to me is really the measuring stick of what it is. And I think there are a lot of things early in this guy's career that are, to be honest with you, being overinflated. It hasn't detracted from the actual football when he's involved with us."
Back in June, Dan Duggan of The Athletic reported that Toney did not finish either of the Giants' two rookie minicamp practices. He left the first early with a cleat issue, and then suffered a minor injury in the second session. Toney then missed three weeks of voluntary workouts because he had not signed his rookie contract. Duggan reported that this was unusual since rookies sign waivers that protect them in case of injury during the offseason programs. After he signed his deal and returned to the field, Toney left a practice session after slipping multiple times and then was excused from a practice due to a family emergency.
Toney missed out on establishing legitimate chemistry with quarterback Daniel Jones, but now has training camp to do just that. Judge thinks that camp is going to be "tremendous" for the former First Team All-SEC wideout. His issues were certainly unfortunate and even a bit weird, but Judge doesn't think they will affect anything moving forward.
