Former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman resurfaced in the KC news cycle when he signed with the AFC rival Buffalo Bills, but the ex-Super Bowl hero’s brief time with his new team took a turn for the worse in Week 12.
Just before the Bills’ Thursday Night Football outing on November 20, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that Buffalo has “placed WR Mecole Hardman Jr. on [the] Injured Reserve.”
To be clear, Hardman is still with the Bills organization, but his active stint helping the team unfortunately only lasted one game.
Hardman was brought in to upgrade Buffalo’s return game, and he immediately made a big play for the Bills in Week 11, returning a kickoff for 61 yards. However, later on, Hardman muffed a punt, fumbling it over to the opposition.
So, it was a mixed bag of a debut for Hardman. Then, the following week, the veteran wide receiver was abruptly placed on IR, meaning he’ll miss the next four games minimum.
Mecole Hardman’s Post Chiefs Struggles Continue With Bills in Week 12
GettyFormer Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman can’t seem to replicate KC magic anywhere else.
It’s really just been one thing after the next for Hardman since leaving Kansas City in free agency for the second time.
As a reminder, Hardman’s initial move away from the Chiefs was a disaster, too, as he hardly had a role with the New York Jets in 2023 before being traded back to KC. That’s when his postseason hero moment occurred, as the speedy wideout caught the game-winning touchdown during the 2023-24 Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Hardman then chose to stick around for another year, re-signing with the Chiefs in 2024. But he only ended up contributing 90 receiving yards, 62 rushing yards, and 1 touchdown. Hardman also chipped in more as a returner that season.
Following 2024, Kansas City appeared to move on from Hardman, bringing in and promoting younger wide receivers and returners.
This led Hardman to sign with the Green Bay Packers for the 2025 summer program and a portion of the regular season. The Packers released him from their practice squad in late September after he logged zero appearances in Green Bay.
With the Bills, Hardman at least received several snaps on special teams, but it ended in another injury setback. It’ll be interesting to see how many more opportunities Hardman gets with more and more younger wide receivers and returners entering the NFL every year.
Chiefs Waiting on Xavier Worthy News Again After Latest Injury Update
On November 21, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid noted that wide receiver Xavier Worthy is trending in the right direction to suit up in Week 12, but his official injury designation was still “questionable” despite that.
That means Chiefs Kingdom will once again be waiting on Worthy news over the weekend.
The former first-round pick has been banged up for most of the 2025 campaign, although he has not missed too many games. Still, Worthy’s second season has been tremendously disappointing.
After racking up 742 scrimmage yards and 9 touchdowns as a rookie, Worthy currently only has 354 scrimmage yards and 1 touchdown in year two. Putting him on a scary trajectory.
Worthy shared some similarities with Hardman out of the draft. Both are skinny, lightning-fast wideouts with a propensity for big plays and injuries. The younger of the two was supposed to be the better version, hence his first-round status, but early signs display that he could be nothing more than a gadget-type role player for the Chiefs, like Hardman was during his earlier years.
Needless to say, that’s not what you want out of a first-round selection.
Ex-Chiefs Super Bowl Hero Immediately Hits IR After Signing With Rival