New York Giants' Theo Johnson appears at Knicks game after being ruled out with illness
Johnson appeared at a New York Knicks game hours after being ruled out of the Giants' season finale with an "illness."
Johnson is the New York Giants' second-leading receiver this season and team leader in touchdown receptions. Al Bello / Getty Images
New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson was seen smiling and waving at the New York Knicks game Friday night at Madison Square Garden, hours after being ruled out of the Giants’ regular-season finale Sunday versus the Dallas Cowboys with an illness.
After being shown seemingly upbeat and healthy on the MSG big screen, Johnson delivered a simple message on his Instagram story, posting a Bleacher Report post of a tweet explaining the situation and declaring, “I am not sick.”
Theo Johnson just posted on Instagram that he is not sick despite the #Giants listing him as out for Sunday’s game with an illness https://t.co/amNyY3i8bQ pic.twitter.com/nlgSN5nWR8
— Jared Schwartz (@jschwartz115) January 3, 2026
New York’s 34-10 win in Week 17 over the Las Vegas Raiders (2-14) gave Las Vegas the inside track to the No. 1 pick in 2026, but the Giants could still earn the top pick with a loss to the Cowboys, a Raiders win over the Kansas City Chiefs and by maintaining their strength of schedule tiebreaker.
The organization told reporters that Johnson has an infection that is neither the flu nor COVID-19, and would not put others at risk of infection when Johnson is out in public. Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka was asked Thursday about Johnson’s weeklong stay on the injury report due to illness.
“He’s just still got a little bit of a sickness and just infection that we’re just working through,” Kafka told reporters. “So he’s just kind of trying to clean it up, see where it goes.”
Johnson wasn’t the only player on the Giants’ injury report listed out with an illness. Edge Abdul Carter and DL Dexter Lawrence missed practice this week with an illness, but they were not given a game designation, meaning they should be healthy enough to play against the Cowboys. WR Jalin Hyatt is questionable with an illness.
Johnson is New York’s second-leading receiver this year, hauling in 45 catches for 528 yards and a team-leading five receiving touchdowns for the Giants.