Chiefs' Mecole Hardman Rips 'Aaron Rodgers Show' Jets: 'It’s The Lies!'
The celebration hasn't stopped for Mecole Hardman after catching the game-winning touchdown pass to give the Kansas City Chiefs their third Super Bowl in five seasons.
Hardman didn't begin the 2023 season with the Chiefs, but an early season trade from the New York Jets allowed him to be a key player in Kansas City's Super Bowl title.
Now, Hardman is looking to get one more joke at the Jets' expense.
On the Pivot Podcast hosted by former safety Ryan Clark, Hardman gave a crash course on why it didn't work out with the team when they signed him to a one-year deal in the offseason.
"You just got a new (offensive) coaching staff that came in and there’s no standard there. Everybody does what they want to do," Hardman explained. "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 does.' Then when Aaron goes down, it’s like we don’t know what to do."
Rodgers went down four plays into the season opener for New York, and the Jets offense struggled to maintain any level of consistency.
As the early part of the season rolled on, though, the Jets struggled to get Hardman on the field - this coming despite glaring holes at the receiver position. Offensive coaches blamed it on the lack of plays being run in a game-to-game process, but Hardman has a different reason why.
"It’s the lies and the way they handled me. I didn’t like it at all."
It got to the point near the deadline where the Jets were refusing to play Hardman despite his deep-play and return abilities. For the former second-round pick, just being around the organization was enough.
"I was so checked out, like, it was over with," Hardman explained. "I had already talked to (KC GM Brett) Veach and Pat (Mahomes), like, ‘Come get me.’"
This is not the first time complaints have been made by former players stating that their role on the team was different than the one head coach Robert Saleh said to get them there in the first place.
Throughout the end of the year, multiple reports confirmed that the coaching staff was looking to do whatever it could to keep their job following Rodgers' injury and hoped the quarterback's vote of confidence would be enough.
Hardman's recent comments regarding the Jets are different than when he was originally dealt to Kansas City in October, but the pending free agent has nothing to lose when it comes to his next destination.
All he knows is that his next team won't be in Florham Park.
