Chad Johnson's been in a similar spot to the one Kadarius Toney is currently in ... and he's telling TMZ Sports he's got one big piece of advice for the Chiefs star to get out of it all -- ignore the haters.
"F 'em," he said.
Johnson sent the message loud and clear on Tuesday -- after Toney received a ton of criticism for lining up offsides on what would have been the potential game-winning play against the Bills at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
"As a former player, I've also been in the situations before where I've made mistakes and those mistakes have cost the game," the ex-Bengals wide receiver said.