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Mecole Hardman has had a go at the New York Jets. When the one-time Pro Bowler joined them during the offseason, he was widely expected to play a major role in Aaron Rodgers and Nathaniel Hackett's supremely stacked offense that also boasted Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Garrett Wilson.
Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan. In just his fourth snap wearing Gotham Green, Rodgers tore his Achilles on a low hit by Buffalo Bills linebacker Leonard Floyd and was forced to miss the season.
Meanwhile, Hardman barely saw the field and was returned to the Kansas City Chiefs in October, where he would go on to win his third Super Bowl title. Speaking to The Pivot Podcast on Tuesday, he condemned the Jets, calling their offense undisciplined, especially after they lost their star trade acquisition:
"I just feel like it's not an established coaching staff there. You just got a new (offensive) coaching staff that came in, and there's no standard there. Everybody does what they want to do. Granted, the defense has more of a stabilized standard with the coaching staff on that side, so the defense has a standard."
"But the offense is just like, ‘We’ll just figure it out. It’s Aaron’s show. Let Aaron do what Aaron do.’ But then when Aaron goes down, it’s like 'We don’t know what to do.'"
"But it's that same coach that was out of a job the previous year, but managed to get a new job."
Mecole Hardman admits to mentally checking out before return to Chiefs
Here's how Mecole Hardman's time in East Rutherford went: only five games played, no starts, a single six-yard reception - a shockingly poor statline for a highly accomplished receiver.
So it was no surprise that as bye week loomed for the New York Jets after six games, he wanted out and back into a environment he knew very well. In the same interview, he said:
“I was so checked out, like, it was over with. I had already talked to (Chiefs general manager Brett Veach) and (quarterback) Pat(rick (Mahomes), like, ‘Come get me.’”
Looking back, he felt disrespected at how underutilized he was:
“It’s the lies and the way they handled me. I didn’t like it at all. You can’t do that to a player. A player that you paid at that. … I play one play, oh hell no. Something got to shake bro, like what we talking about bro.”
Mecole Hardman's full interview can be seen below:
