Getty Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman against the Tennessee Titans.
Just when Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman was starting to turn on the jets — with five touchdowns in three games — he went down with a mysterious abdomen injury.
The first sign of trouble came when Hardman missed the Week 10 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Head coach Andy Reid noted that the speedster’s abdomen issue stemmed from an illness the following week, and relayed that he was “getting better.”
Then all of a sudden, a setback must have occurred because Hardman hit the injured reserve unexpectedly.
Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman Shares Positive Update on Injury
Coach Reid has been very hush-hush about Hardman’s ailment from the get-go. After the Chiefs placed the wideout on IR, he did state that the issue would most likely be on the “short-term” side, rather than long-term or season-ending.
“I don’t have anything for ya there,” Reid replied when reporters pressed him on what was wrong with Hardman exactly, “just gotta get through this.”
Finally, someone did say something about the former second-round pick’s status, Hardman himself. The offensive playmaker tweeted out an encouraging update for fans on November 28.
Damn it feels good to lift weights again 😢
“Damn it feels good to lift weights again,” Hardman voiced with a tear-faced emoji.
That could mean that the wide receiver is on the road to recovery, although it’s still hard to say considering nobody seems to have any idea what was wrong with him in the first place.
There’s one thing we do know. Hardman was placed on the injured reserve after Week 10, so that means he’s guaranteed to miss a minimum of four games on the schedule. He’s already been sidelined for two (not counting Jacksonville) — both Los Angeles matchups versus the Chargers and Rams.
The final two that he’ll certainly miss are Week 13 (Cincinnati Bengals) and Week 14 (Denver Broncos). From there, we’ll see.
Similar newcomer Kadarius Toney was also absent against the Rams and is currently day-to-day heading into the Bengals rematch. It’d be a huge boost for Patrick Mahomes and this offense if both Toney and Hardman are healthy for the postseason — that’s a lot of speed for the opposition to deal with at one time.
Mecole Hardman Injury Hurts in More Ways Than One
The offense has been able to get the job done without Hardman but his absence hurts in more ways than one. Kansas City currently has a special teams problem.
More specifically, coordinator Dave Toub cannot seem to find a punt returner between Skyy Moore’s issues and Toney’s injury. For now, the short-term fix appears to be wide receiver Justin Watson, who may not be asked to do much other than catch the ball.
That’s fine for now, but that lack of elusiveness from your returner won’t last forever. Hardman has done the job in the past and with more weapons than ever on offense, he could do so again once healthy.
The former Pro Bowl returner averaged 9.3 yards on punts his rookie year and a ridiculous 26.1 on kick returns. The latter number declined as time went on but Hardman did increase his punt return marks to 12.1 per attempt in 2021.
Toney is another potential candidate (three punt returns for 16 yards with KC), but he hasn’t really done it too much since college and you might want to keep a dynamic threat like that on the field with Mahomes as much as possible.
For now, Hardman is the Chiefs’ best option for punt and kick return duties in 2022. The sooner he’s back in uniform, the better.