There was a familiar voice blaring over the PA as part of the musical soundtrack at Giants camp Friday: Yung Joka, the rap aka of wide receiver Kadarius Toney.
“We play a bunch of music…he’d send me songs here and there throughout the offseason. I'd ask him for some songs, and some I'd like better than others,” head coach Brian Daboll joked. “Talented guy!”
“I would say I think that was pretty great,” Toney said later. “I didn’t know (it was coming). It kind of surprised me but it had me juiced up. I appreciate them doing for doing it because it shows the willingness to build a relationship with me.”
That’s important personally to Toney, who was much-maligned as a rookie and seemingly the subject of departure rumors, especially after he underwent a minor knee procedure that set him back, the Giants drafted Wan’Dale Robinson in the second round, and Toney after he missed the start of offseason programs for “personal reasons.”
Toney admitted he talked to people in the building but never questioned anything he heard or reacted negatively, he just kept working as hard as he could however he could.
“I kind of just worked on what I have to do. As far as receiver work, catching; I wasn’t able to be physically available, I was still mentally available,” he said. “And now, I feel like I'm more confident, it's just all about experience. Last year, I was just a rookie coming in kind of young and getting to learn everything. This year, second year, so I had experience on the field, had my ups and downs and I'm just here to be who I am.”
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Who he is could be a huge X-factor for the Giants, as Toney showed what he could do in a monster game against Dallas and is now learning a new offense that he thinks brings both more energy and freedom to the receiver corps.
“They brought a lot of energy into the building, and the offense is more flexible with route-running and stuff,” Toney said. “Instead of just running technical routs, it gives a chance to win instead of having to do it a certain way every time. There’s a lot of communication, and it's all about chemistry with Daniel (Jones), too. The coaches can only draw up the plays, we have to execute it at the end of the day.”
Those changes can turn a dynamic playmaker like Toney into a huge weapon, especially with all the pre-snap-motion and fluidity the offense requires – and so far, he is “juiced up” after a few days of camp.
“It definitely is a lot of fun out there. A lot of juice, a lot of energy. I like that they came here honestly,” Toney said.
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While the Dallas game was his magnum opus, Toney’s rookie season was more down than up. He simply looks at it as “something to build on,” and he’s hoping to show more of that game than any other when he’s on the field this season.
“That's the mindset, to do it every game. I wasn't probably available last year to do it every game. It's just all about the approach,” Toney said. “I don't really set goals, but I just do whatever I can to help the team, in whatever way I can.”
And as for that relationship and rapport, Daboll has already admitted he’s impressed with Toney, and he doubled down on it Friday.
“He's a good person. He cares about his teammates. And we have good communication, him and I. He likes football. He likes music. I think he's a very loyal, a loyal guy. And you got to build trust with KT. And he had to build trust with me. Really no different than a lot of guys,” Daboll said. “Trust is probably one of the most important things in any relationship you can build. I've told you from day one, I've been very happy with KT, his approach, how he is as a person, first and foremost, because that's what matters to me. We've seen him in college. We evaluated him. He has a tremendous skillset. He's smart. We move him around quite a bit. He's a good young player that we're going to help develop anyway we can both on and off the field.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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