Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman Jr. denies giving the Jets' game plan to the Eagles
The war of words between Mecole Hardman Jr. and Sauce Gardner added another chapter Friday.
This time the Kansas City Chiefs receiver was refuting the accusation that he gave the New York Jets' game plan to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6.
During an interview for "The Pivot," Hardman harshly criticized the Jets, and it rubbed several of his former teammates the wrong way. Punter Thomas Morstead took to X to subtweet Hardman, and cornerback Sauce Gardner, in a since deleted tweet, implied that Hardman fed the Eagles information.
“We ain’t gon talk about how our offensive game plan got leaked versus the Eagles tho,” Gardner wrote then.
Hardman, who signed with New York last offseason and played a total of five games, didn't take that insinuation lightly and fired back.
"There were FALSE accusations made about me and MY CHARACTER!" Hardman said. "To set the record straight, I have never and would never leak gameplans to another team. I have never been a person to give an opponent an upper hand I always want to win no matter the circumstances!!!!!"
There were FALSE accusations made about me and MY CHARACTER! To set the record straight, I have never and would never leak gameplans to another team. I have never been a person to give an opponent an upper hand I always want to win no matter the circumstances!!!!!
— Mecole Hardman Jr. (@MecoleHardman4) March 1, 2024
Gardner also dug through Hardman's old tweets Wednesday and quote-tweeted one in which Hardman said if his life depended on it, he would snitch, to which Gardner wrote, "lol."
This spat also resulted in Jets general manager Joe Douglas responding to questions about Hardman's critiques and what led to his unhappiness with the team. Douglas explained things simply didn't work out.
"I'll just say, look, we were excited to sign Mecole," Douglas said. "He was excited to obviously join our team. Xavier Gipson really came on for us this year, and he did an outstanding job for us. So, ultimately, we made a decision to move on from Mecole, but our process of adding Mecole, he was excited to be here, and it just didn't work out. And a lot of that has to do with Xavier."
Hardman was ultimately traded back to Kansas City at the deadline. The Jets finished 7-10 and didn't make the playoffs, while Hardman finished the year by catching the game-winning touchdown in the Chiefs' 25-22 overtime win in Super Bowl LVIII. It's Hardman's third Super Bowl win with Kansas City.
