The Kansas City Chiefs placed wide receiver Mecole Hardman on injured reserve Saturday with a knee injury.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters Friday that Hardman suffered the injury before the team’s on-field work when his “knee locked up on him.”
The earliest Hardman can return is Week 18 against the host Denver Broncos.
Hardman, 26, signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs in June, just months after he caught the game-winning touchdown in Kansas City’s 25-22 overtime victory against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.
A three-time Super Bowl champion, Hardman has 12 catches for 90 yards as well as five rushes for 62 yards and a touchdown this season. He also has 20 punt returns and five kick returns.
Hardman has 178 receptions for 2,302 yards and 16 touchdowns in 80 career games (28 starts) since being picked by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He signed as a free agent with the New York Jets to start the 2023 season before being traded back to the Chiefs.
In a corresponding move, the Chiefs signed receiver Nikko Remigio off the practice squad, where he has spent the entire season after not making the 53-man roster in training camp.
The Chiefs (11-1) are set for a divisional matchup Sunday night against the visiting Los Angeles Chargers (8-4).
