The Green Bay Packers suffered through a disastrous first preseason game, falling 30-10 against the New York Jets in a miserable effort that shouldn't necessarily have fans concerned, despite it being a warning sign.
Jordan Love was awful, completing just one of his five passes for seven yards while taking a sack. He was the least productive quarterback of the night, though there's no real worry about his status. If Love plays like that in the regular season, the Packers won't win a game. He likely won't, and these moments are about preparation, so it doesn't actually matter.
That said, one new wide receiver's struggles are certainly something to monitor and this player needs to be kicked out of camp as soon as possible.
Jets special teams is out here recovering fumbles 👀
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New Packers WR Mecole Hardman Must Be Cut After Horrible Preseason Debut
Three-time Super Bowl champion and former Kansas City Chief Mecole Hardman, who joined the franchise on a one-year deal expecting to compete for a depth spot and special teams role, was already facing an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster.
It's hard to perform worse than he did on Saturday. After foolishly returning a punt from the 5-yard line and promptly getting tackled, leading to a TD drive for the Jets, Hardman muffed a bounced kick for unclear reasons, gifting New York a field goal. His mistakes directly led to 10 points for the opponent, which is inexcusable when you're a 27-year-old veteran with championship experience.
Battling against a deep, albeit less-than-stellar, wideout group means that Hardman needs to shine to make the roster. He's not the top return option, and at best, he's the 5th or 6th receiver. The one thing you can't do is make boneheaded decisions, which is exactly what Hardman did.
He almost single-handedly cost Green Bay any chance of competing in the actual game. That doesn't matter, but his decisions do. Hardman isn't good enough to overcome these mental errors. Since he's been doing it his entire career, even in the playoffs with the Chiefs, it's hard to believe that he'll suddenly start playing smart football.
This was a death blow for Hardman, and he needs to be cut sooner rather than later. The Packers don't have a large enough margin of error to overcome these mishaps, and, unfortunately, Hardman can't learn from his mistakes.
Hopefully the second week goes better, but it seems to be only a matter of time before Hardman gets cut and head coach Matt LaFleur admits the sunk cost.