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Mecole Hardman's fourth year as a Kansas City Chief has been his most frustrating due to injury. Hardman failed to miss a game in his first three seasons in the league and played the first nine weeks of this season unscathed.
The 24-year-old speed demon enjoyed a stretch of dominant play and fantasy relevance before his season was derailed by a pelvic injury that has kept him out for Kansas City's last ten games. Hardman tallied back-to-back games as a top-six weekly fantasy wide receiver before landing on the injured reserve.
Is Mecole Hardman injured? Will he play in the Chiefs' AFC Championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals? Let's dive in.
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Mecole Hardman Injury News
The former Georgia Bulldog was placed on the injured reserve on November 17th. Hardman was first eligible to come off the injured reserve ahead of their Week 14 matchup with the Denver Broncos. His first practice back from injury was on December 14th. Hardman practiced in a limited fashion for two weeks as Andy Reid made optimistic comments to the press about his return.
Reid's optimism couldn't prevent his receiver from having a setback in practice on December 28th. Hardman missed practice the following day. The Chiefs activated their longest-tenured receiver on January 4th, less than an hour before his activation deadline was reached.
Hardman made subsequent appearances at practice ahead of Week 18's matchup with the Raiders, earning a questionable label on the injury report before missing the regular season finale. There must have been another setback suffered within those two practices because Hardman has yet to practice since.
Is Mecole Hardman Injured or Playing in the AFC Championship?
At the time of this writing, no injury designation has been given to Mecole Hardman for Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. This a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game, in which the Bengals won 27-24 in overtime.
It would take a remarkable turnaround to see Hardman suit up this week. Given that he hasn't participated in practice in nearly three weeks, it's safe to assume that Patrick Mahomes will be without his versatile weapon once again.
If Hardman was able to log a full practice before the weekend, I would expect him to play in what could be Kansas City's last game of the season. Otherwise, do not expect Mecole Hardman to play in the AFC Championship game.
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