Sidelined WR Toney thinks he returned too soon

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants wide receiver Kadarius Toney remains sidelined with a second hamstring injury he says occurred several weeks back while running.

“When you go hard, stuff happens,” said Toney, who has missed the past four games. He’s almost certainly going to miss Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars after sitting out the first two practices of this week.

Toney originally injured his right hamstring during training camp. He tweaked that same hamstring in a Week 2 win over the Carolina Panthers.

This latest hamstring injury is to his left leg. It occurred during a practice on Oct. 5. Toney said it probably happened because he came back too early from previous hamstring injury.

“Probably so. Probably why I reinjured myself,” he said.

Toney remains confident his body will cooperate moving forward. He expects to be back this season, but wouldn’t put a date or timeline on his return.

He plans now to listen to his body.

“I’m just getting better now,” he said. “No frustration here.”

The 2021 first-round pick out of the University of Florida did not practice Thursday. He was jogging on a side field with a trainer during the portion of practice open to the media.

“I feel pretty good. Getting better every day,” Toney said. “Ready to be out there when we can.”

The Giants have said they do not plan on placing Toney on injured reserve. He has already missed four straight games.

Toney doesn’t seem all that close to returning even though he says he has been sprinting and cutting.

“He’s getting better, doing a good job rehabbing,” coach Brian Daboll said before a practice this week. “Hopefully we’ll see him out here soon.”

New York plays road games against the Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks the next two weeks before its bye week. A return following the bye seems most realistic.

It has been a rough start to Toney’s career. He has two catches for zero yards this season. He has missed 11 of a possible 23 career games because of a variety of injuries and a bout with COVID-19.

After Toney misses this week’s game against the Jaguars his résumé will include 12 games played, 12 missed.

He’s chalking it up to bad luck. Toney says he doesn’t think there is much he could have done to prevent these hamstring problems.

“Nah, not really. If you ask anybody, the best doctor or whatever, hamstrings are very tricky,” he said. “So if you feel like your hamstring is better, it might not be. You never know. It’s all about how you feel.”

Toney says he’s still putting in the work, preparing as if he’s going to play.

“All locked in. All business. Whatever you want to call it,” he said. “I’m not letting up for nobody. I don’t really care. If I’m able to go out there or I’m not, I know what I have to do. Simple.”

Toney says he’s doing things the right way. He hasn’t heard otherwise from the Giants’ decision-makers or coaches.

“At the end of the day, I’m coming in and doing my job every day,” he said. “I don’t hear nothing bad, so I guess I got to be doing good. … I’m getting ready like it’s a game. I don’t really care for … I get feedback every now and again, I guess you can say. I’m locked in. So I don’t really care for too much worries right now. I’m locked in.”