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New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson attended a New York Knicks game Friday night, although he was ruled out of the team’s Week 18 game due to an illness the same day.
Johnson, 24, did not play in the Giants’ 34-10 Week 17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders due to illness and did not practice all week. NFL fans took to social media, speculating whether the Giants were holding Johnson back under cover of illness to help him secure a higher draft pick.
The second-year tight end added fuel to the fire, reposting a photo of himself on the Madison Square Garden jumbotron and captioning it: “I’m not sick.”
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New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson (84) practices before the game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on December 21, 2025. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)
The Giants said Saturday that Johnson had an infection, which is listed as an illness on the injury report, but did not have the flu or COVID, meaning he can be around others without being a risk. Johnson was first listed on the injury report with an illness last Friday.
“He just still has a little bit of illness and an infection that we’re working on. So he’s just trying to clean that up, see where it goes,” interim head coach Mika Kafka said of Johnson, according to The Athletic.
With a loss last week, the Giants would have secured the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft regardless of the Week 18 results. However, they knocked out the lowly Raiders, meaning the Week 18 results have major draft implications.
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New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson (84) makes a catch against Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone (34) during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, Sunday, November 23, 2025. (IMAGINE)
If the Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, they could fall all the way to No. 7 in the draft. If the Giants win and the Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets and Washington Commanders lose, they will fall to 7th.
If the Browns, Titans, Cardinals, Jets and Commanders win their respective games, a Giants victory would have fewer consequences. For example, if the Browns and Titans win and the Cardinals, Jets and Commanders lose, then the Giants would fall to fifth place with a win over the Cowboys.
If the Giants lose, they still have an outside chance of landing the No. 1 pick. For the Giants to get the No. 1 overall pick, they would need the Raiders to win and two of four things to happen: the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers, the Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals, the Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints, or the Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions.
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These four games all impact how strong the team’s schedule is compared to the Raiders.
Regardless, if the Giants lose to the Cowboys, the lowest they can pick is No. 2 overall. With the win endangering the team’s chances of being the top pick, Johnson’s presence at the Knicks game was notable, as fans wondered if the tight end was suffering from an illness.
Johnson, who has five catches this season, has shown some playmaking ability, with 45 catches for 528 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games.
