Mecole Hardman, Malik Heath Know They Can’t Drop Ball on Second Chance

With four receivers not playing in Saturday’s loss to the Jets, Malik Heath and Mecole Hardman had multiple chances to see the field and prove they’re worthy of a spot on the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster. Both players had opportunities to touch the ball, and both of them did nothing with those touches. 

Heath, whose physicality has given him a place on the roster the last two years, got more opportunities than Hardman against the Jets. Unfortunately, he didn’t do anything with them. In 30 snaps, he was targeted four times, caught one pass and had a bad, wide-open drop. 

Given that the receivers struggled with drops last season, Heath continuing to drop passes – he dropped one during a 2-minute drill at practice on Monday, as well – is not going to help his case when the team has to cut the roster to 53 on Aug. 26. 

Hardman was no better than Heath on offense against the Jets. In 22 snaps, he got only one target, which he dropped, leading to a strip-sack-touchdown on the next play. 

Hardman hurt his case even more on special teams. He was supposed to have a leg up on Heath given his pedigree as a returner, but two critical errors on punt returns ended up costing the Packers. And might cost him. 

His first mistake was fielding a punt at the 5-yard line. He was tackled immediately, which pinned the No. 2 offense deep in its own territory. 

“Yeah, catch it inside the 5, try to make something happen,” Hardman said of his thought process. “Could have made one man miss, but I didn’t. So, that’s all on me. Just got to put it behind me. We’ve got two more games.” 

On the next punt, he muffed a bouncing ball, resulting in a turnover. 

When asked about that play, he said he “was expecting a better bounce and it bounced the wrong way and, unfortunately, it didn't go my way. There’s nothing really too much to harp on. It’s preseason. It’s good to get it out of the way now. Could have just let it bounce and let it (the ball) do what it was going to do. But I feel like I was in a position to catch it and get some positive yards and it didn't roll my way. But it’s all good in the end.” 

The silver lining for both players? As Hardman said, “We’ve got two more games,”

The other silver lining is their track records. 

For Heath, it’s his demonstrated prowess as a blocker in the run game, which is the starting point of Green Bay’s offense. Especially without Christian Watson to start the season, Heath’s ability to help get the backs extra yards won’t be forgotten. 

Plus, it’s not as if drops have been a problem throughout his career. In limited opportunities last season, he caught 10-of-12 passes with zero drops. 

“I know I got great hands and I just try to [have a] next-play mentality,” Heath said after Monday’s practice, when he followed up his drop with a pair of catches. “I try to live like a DB. DBs, they get beat, short-term memory. That's how I live life, too. When you drop a pass, short-term memory. So, I'm trying to go out there and make another play, make up for that play, you know what I'm saying, so that's how I think about it.” 

As for Hardman, he has been a reliable returner throughout his career. In six seasons, according to PFF, Hardman has fielded 129 punts. He has four muffs, including zero last season. 

“He’s made good plays in practice for us and he’s got some skins on the wall in this league,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said. “He’s made some big plays and we’re hoping he can do the same thing. We’ll see how he responds this week. I think we’re all expecting him to come back with a great grit and great fight to him and have a heck of a week.” 

There were no shakeups on the receiver depth chart on Monday. With Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks and Watson on the sideline, Heath got a lot of reps with the No. 1 offense. Hardman got the first opportunities during an extended punt period and cleanly fielded all his opportunities. 

The expectation from the coaching staff is that, despite the mistakes, both Heath and Hardman are going to come back strong and have a better week in camp as the battle for the last receiver spot ramps up. 

“I’ve got to have short-term memory,” Hardman said. “If you let it affect you, you know, it’s going to affect you next week too. So, you’ve got 24 hours to go over it and look at it and after that, just let it go and onto the next game.”