Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman dealing with abdominal soreness, will not practice Wednesday
The Chiefs were missing a wide receiver for Wednesday’s practice.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Mecole Hardman would not be on the field as the team prepares to host the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Week 10 game at noon Sunday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
“(He) has some abdominal soreness, and so he’s being evaluated,” Reid said. “This has been going on for a day now. A couple of days, actually.”
The Chiefs’ athletic training and medical staff will monitor Hardman’s progress before allowing him to return to the practice field.
“They don’t have an absolute on it right now,” Reid said. “They’re still doing some tests.”
The Chiefs are scheduled to practice Thursday and Friday, so Hardman, who has scored a touchdown in three straight games, has time to return to the field.
Should he remain unavailable by Sunday, the Chiefs have ample depth in JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Justin Watson and rookie Skyy Moore.
Reid said “everybody else” on the team’s roster was practicing practice Wednesday, meaning tight end Jody Fortson was set to work in some capacity. Fortson missed the Chiefs’ Week 9 win against the Tennessee Titans with a quad injury.
Offensive lineman Lucas Nniang continued to practice as he attempts to return from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Niang’s 21-day window for the team to decide whether to bring back Niang to their active 53-player roster opened last week.
“He’s working very hard and making progress,” Reid said. “He’s not there yet, but he’s working at it.”
While Niang remains on the PUP list, the Chiefs aren’t required to list him on their injury report.
The later in the afternoon designated Fortson, tight end Travis Kelce (neck), running back Jerick McKinnon (shoulder, knee), cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (knee), safety Deon Bush (knee) and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi (Achilles) as full participants.
Defensive tackle Khalen Saunders was excused for personal reasons.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 1:04 PM.
