Mecole Hardman carted off due to groin injury suffered in Wednesday’s practice

Update: Hardman is being evaluated for a groin injury, per Ian Rapoport.

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman was forced to leave training camp on Wednesday due to an apparent left leg injury, per ESPN’s Adam Teicher. Hardman reportedly leaped for a ball in the endzone and landed awkwardly. He appeared hobbled and was carted off.

Hardman’s importance to the Chiefs is fairly large. He is the best receiver holdover from a season ago as Tyreek Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins and Byron Pringle left in free agency. The team did bring in JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling as free agents of their own, but Hardman is expected to be counted on as a reliable piece in this offense.

There was a wide gap between Hill and the rest of the Kansas City last year, but Hardman still ranked second in many of the offensive categories for wide receivers. He played in all 17 games and caught 59 of his 83 targets for 693 yards and two touchdowns. While not expected to necessarily take over as the WR1 on this team, he still plays an important role. While we wait for an update on his injury status, look for rookie Skyy Moore to get added work.