A veteran Green Bay Packers wide receiver didn’t leave a good impression on head coach Matt LaFleur’s coaching staff on Saturday when he took on his old team in front of 71,501 fans at Lambeau Field on Saturday night.
Mecole Hardman, who has had flashes of being a strong contributor to the Packers during training camp, struggled in the Packers’ 30-10 loss to the New York Jets. The 2019 second-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs dropped his only target of the night and made a poor decision as a punt returner on special teams before muffing a punt on his second punt return opportunity.
The Green Bay Packers coaching staff has a decision to make
Matt Schneidman of The Athletic suggested that Hardman’s performance will prompt the Packers’ coaching staff to reevaluate the receiver depth chart.
“Hardman, too, seemed penciled into the 53-man roster before Saturday night,” Schneidman wrote. “For a player who probably wasn’t slated to contribute much as a wide receiver come the regular season but still provided value because of his return experience, the preseason opener was a disaster.
“Hardman fielded a punt on the fly at his 5-yard line (that’s a no-no) with a Jet and two Packers nearby and was tackled immediately for no gain by the Jets’ Qwan’tez Stiggers after he beat Packers rookie seventh-round cornerback Micah Robinson.”
“I made two bad decisions, so that’s on me,” Hardman told reporters after the game.
Hardman wasn’t the only Packers receiver to have issues against the Jets, as an issue from 2024, dropped passes, continued to plague the offense in their first preseason game of 2025.
It’s an issue Hardman and the team will want to show improvement on when they play the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.
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