"Straight to jail," "Take away Giants 1st round pick": NFL fans rip Theo Johnson for attending Knicks game while being ruled out for Week 18

New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson missed last week's 34-10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders due to an illness. He didn't participate in this week's practice while recovering from his flu. According to reports, the Giants have ruled out the second-year tight end for their Week 18 showdown against the Dallas Cowboys.

However, on social media, Theo Johnson is going viral for his appearance at Madison Square Garden for the NBA game between the New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks.

In a post shared by reporter Jared Schwartz, we see the Giants TE smiling and waving to fans while appearing on the Jumbotron. This led to fans believing that the team is tanking their final game as they are in contention with the Raiders for the No.1 pick in this year's NFL draft.

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Fans on social media heavily criticized Johnson for attending the Knicks vs Hawks game while being ruled out of the Giants' Week 18 showdown due to an illness.

"Take away the Giants 1st rd pick," one fan commented. "Straight to jail. Don't get your butterfingers a** all over those Madison Square Garden seats you bum," another fan said. "They're tanking take away their picks!!!" this fan wrote. "He understands the assignment. Committed to the tank!" another fan said. "What? Can't play on Sunday cause you're sick but well enough to go to a sporting event???" one fan wrote. "This team is ran by idiots," this fan commented.

The Giants have had another disappointing campaign this season. After a 2-8 start, they decided to fire coach Brian Daboll back in November. Mike Kafka took over as the interim coach, but the situation did not improve for the team.

After a nine-game losing skid, the Giants finally won their first game since October last week against the Raiders. This season, Theo Johnson has played in 15 games while tallying 528 yards and five touchdowns receiving.

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Giants OC Tim Kelly shares his honest thoughts on Theo Johnson's 2025 performance

Theo Johnson has been inconsistent with her performance on the field this season. The second-year tight end dropped a few catches on the gridiron, raising questions about his fit with the team.

However, during Thursday's press conference, offensive coordinator Tim Kelly shared his unfiltered take on Johnson while highlighting some of the key areas of improvement.

"I think some of them are timing issues," Kelly said as per GiantsWire. "Some of those, like you look at the play in New England and the play in Philly, he's got to make those catches for sure. They would have been great plays, but the expectation is that he makes them. "I would say playing consistently with the confidence that he has and his ability to do that day in and day out from the first day, from the first play to the last play is something that's going to be able to take him to the upper echelon of tight ends in this league."

The Giants vs Cowboys game will be played on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Edited by Priyam Hazarika