Buffalo Rumblings
On Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills announced that veteran wide receiver and return specialist Mecole Hardman Jr. re-signed to the team’s practice squad. Hardman had been released from Buffalo’s active roster on December 27.
Hardman, 27, has been on and off Buffalo’s roster a few times over the last few months. He signed with the team’s practice squad on November 10, then signed to the active roster on November 15. He appeared in one game, a 44-32 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and made an immediate impact. While he saw just one target as a receiver, a deep ball that fell incomplete, Hardman returned a kickoff 61 yards on his first touch as a Buffalo Bill. He fielded two punts during the game, fair catching the first one, but he fumbled while returning his second attempt. The Bucs recovered the fumble, and Hardman injured his calf on the play, leading to a stint on Injured Reserve (IR).
Hardman was activated from IR in time to appear in Buffalo’s 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns, but he appeared on just two special teams snaps. He returned one punt for four yards, but he was not the returner for Buffalo’s last punt return, as head coach Sean McDermott chose to use Khalil Shakir to catch that punt instead of Hardman.
With the Bills dealing with injuries at the tight end position, they released Hardman on December 27 to clear space for rookie tight end Keleki Latu, who had already used all three of his practice squad elevations for the season. Latu played in place of tight end Dalton Kincaid during last week’s 13-12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
After the loss, Buffalo released practice squad kicker Michael Badgley, who had been filling in for the injured Matt Prater. With Prater ready to return, the open spot on the practice squad is now filled by Hardman.
Buffalo plays their final game of the regular season on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. EST vs. the New York Jets.
