Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman still not practicing. Here’s the latest
The Chiefs opened their work week without a member of their offense ahead of Saturday’s playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Tuesday that wide receiver Mecole Hardman (pelvis) would not practice.
“We’re just going to back off him a little bit and see if we can get him feeling better,” Reid said. “He’s been pushing it hard and it’s not responding the way that he wants it or we want it, so we’ll back off on that.”
Hardman returned from injured reserve during the final week of the regular season but wasn’t active for the Chiefs’ season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs are coming off a bye week now, so even an extra week of rest apparently didn’t help.
Nevertheless, Reid sounded optimistic that Hardman could eventually return if the Chiefs continue to advance in the postseason.
“You want to try not to take steps back,” Reid said, “and it’s not that we’ve taken steps back. It’s just that it’s not getting where it needs to be where he can go.”
Hardman hasn’t played since Nov. 9 and the Chiefs placed him on injured reserve on Nov. 17. He was designated as “return to practice” on Dec. 14 before the Chiefs activated him to their 53-player roster on Jan. 4.
With Hardman’s availability for the AFC Divisional Round unknown, the Chiefs will continue to rely on wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Justin Watson and rookie Skyy Moore.
Reid announced that “everybody else” would practice Tuesday, meaning defensive end Frank Clark (groin) and Moore (hand) were back at work in some capacity. Both players missed the Chiefs’ regular-season finale.
The Chiefs later in the afternoon listed Clark as a limited participated, while Moore and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (hip) practiced fully.
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 12:47 PM.
