KC Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman Dealing With Sprained Thumb

Ahead of the Chiefs' Sunday matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, their speedy wideout is nursing an injury suffered in the game prior.

Coming out of their bye week, the Kansas City Chiefs were in some of their best shape all season health-wise. Now, only one player is dealing with a notable injury following the club's Week 11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles: wide receiver Mecole Hardman.

Injured in the first half of Monday night's game, Hardman was absent for a pair of ensuing drives before playing one snap on each of the two following possessions. The fifth-year wideout played sparingly over the course of the contest but got a lot of his reps late in the fourth quarter, rounding out at 16 offensive snaps on the evening. According to head coach Andy Reid on Wednesday, Hardman's injury is a sprained thumb and the team is still gathering some additional information. 

"On the injury part, he's got a sprained thumb and we're having it evaluated now. So we'll just see where it's at." 

Hardman was cleared to return to the game on offense, but not special teams. In his place, fellow receivers Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore filled in for punt return and kickoff return duty, respectively. Moore didn't bring back a single kick, but Toney returned six punts for 58 yards and even had multiple efforts of 10-plus yards.

The Chiefs are traveling on a short week this week, set to face their AFC rivals — the Las Vegas Raiders — on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. With kickoff at 3:25 p.m. ET, that leaves a bit of extra time to decide whether Hardman will be active for this weekend's matchup. In the event that he misses the game, it's possible that veteran Richie James sees the field for the first time since Week 2. James was activated off the injured reserve list for Week 11 but was a healthy scratch on game day. As Kansas City continues to evaluate Hardman's injury, Reid hinted at a wait-and-see approach for James. 

"Yeah, potentially," Reid said. "We'll just see how things go this week. We all have confidence in him that he can jump in there and play." 

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