Chiefs activate running back ahead of Super Bowl after putting Mecole Hardman on IR

The Kansas City Chiefs will not have receiver Mecole Hardman available for Super Bowl LVII, as the team put him on injured reserve Monday, thus ending his season.

Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, meanwhile, was activated from injured reserve as part of the transaction.

Hardman missed the second half of the season after suffering a pelvic injury against Tennessee in Week 9. He returned to the lineup in last week’s AFC Championship Game against Cincinnati, playing 15 offensive snaps with two catches for 10 yards and two rushes for seven yards before re-injuring himself on a hit in the third quarter.

That could end up being Hardman’s last game in Kansas City. Hardman, 24, was a second-round pick of the Chiefs in the 2019 NFL Draft and is in the final year of his rookie contract.

The Chiefs’ depth chart at receiver without Hardman includes JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, Justin Watson and Kadarius Toney.

Edwards-Helaire, a 2020 first-round pick, has not played for the Chiefs since Week 11 against the Los Angeles Chargers, when he suffered a high-ankle sprain. He has 71 carries for 302 yards this season with six combined touchdowns — three rushing and three receiving.

With Edwards-Helaire out, the Chiefs leaned heavily on rookie Isiah Pacheco and veteran Jerick McKinnon in their backfield.