As Giants practice ended and he walked back to his office, John Mara went a few steps out of his way to stop and fist-bump Kadarius Toney.

Traditional statistics or advanced analytics could be used to say how important Toney has become to the Giants’ offense. But the team co-owner’s encouragement to the rookie receiver fighting his way back from an injury should get the point across.

Toney, who missed last week’s game with an ankle injury, was a limited participant in Friday’s practice — a step in the right direction toward returning to action Monday against the Chiefs.

“Feeling pretty good,” Toney said. “It’s day by day, listening to the trainers, following the process, so we’ll see when it’s game time. I was able to do enough [in practice]. Progress, you know?”

When the horn sounded to end the stretching period, Toney was the only one of the three injured big playmakers to stay on the field. Better than none.

As Saquon Barkley headed inside with a trainer and Kenny Golladay moved to a side field with another trainer, Toney joined individual drills. The Giants played the last two games without Barkley (ankle) and Golladay (knee) — who look likely to make it three in a row headed toward Saturday’s practice — and the last seven quarters without Toney, who sprained his ankle on the opening drive of a loss to the Rams.

Because Toney’s skill set is dependent on cuts and jukes at full speed, an ankle injury could slow him down more than some others.

“Playing this sport here, you’re never going to be fully 100 percent,” Toney said. “Anybody could go out with an ankle injury [and] you wouldn’t really know. There’s a lot of light shed on my ankle.”

After he was a non-factor in the first three games of the season, Toney totaled 16 catches for 267 yards against the Saints and Cowboys. He was on his way to a third straight big game — three catches for 36 yards in less than five minutes versus the Rams — when he limped off the field after a sideline tackle.

When Toney returns, he could become the punter returner, too, now that C.J. Board and Jabrill Peppers are out for the season.

“He is [at risk] to get hurt catching the ball across the middle, too, isn’t he?” head coach Joe Judge said. “We are not going to not throw the ball between the hash marks. We’re going to put our best players on the field. The one thing about punt return to remember is you control the play as the returner. You can fair catch it, stop the play and protect yourself.”

In addition to Barkley and Golladay, OLB Lorenzo Carter, ILB Carter Coughlin and Nate Ebner missed Friday’s practice. All three have ankle injuries. Coughlin’s injury is new and could require at least three weeks on injured reserve, according to The Athletic.

TE Evan Engram (calf), WR Sterling Shepard (hamstring), DT Danny Shelton (pec) and TE Kaden Smith (knee) were limited.

Two rookies — CB Aaron Robinson and OLB Elerson Smith — could make their NFL debuts Monday after missing the first seven games due to injury. Both must be activated by next week’s game or be ruled out for the season.

Robinson, in particular, would be a big addition as the Giants search for the right fit at nickel.

“He’s been very encouraging in terms of how he’s moving,” Judge said. “He’s been really involved schematically and game plan-wise throughout the entire course of this process. It’s helped him kind of move up quickly mentally.”