"He threw me in the fire": Mecole Hardman Jr reveals Josh Allen's habit made him feel left out on day 1 of practice with Bills

Mecole Hardman is now a Buffalo Bill, but he feels slightly ostracized because of one gesture.

On Monday, the wide receiver/returner joined the defending AFC East champions' practice squad. During his first practice on Wednesday, he had a "handshake" with quarterback Josh Allen.

His was basically their hands colliding with each other, but then Allen did more elaborate ones with other players. Afterward, he the media:

"He threw me in the fire... I'm just like, 'Well, just put it there, sir.' We gotta work on that. I gotta get one with him. Hopefully, we get that soon because I felt left out today, not going to lie."

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He also expressed his thoughts on potentially seeing the field again:

"I think they’ve got a plan for me. … I’m just happy to be on a team again and ready to play."

Head coach Sean McDermott also had his thoughts on Hardman joining:

"Excited about that. You look at position flexibility, he brings some of that. The speed element is real, having gone against him. He hasn't played a little bit, so we're gonna take it one day at a time, but I'm really interested in seeing how he's gonna help us."

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Mecole Hardman had tried out with Raiders before joining Bills

Before landing with the Bills, Mecole Hardman had bounced in and out of the Green Bay Packers' practice squad without playing a snap. But it was not for lack of trying to join a team.

Last month, the three-time Super Bowl champion and one-time All-Pro/Pro Bowler was one of five players who were reported to have worked out with the Las Vegas Raiders. He was one of three wide receivers present, the others being Hal Presley and DJ Turner. The other two were running back Israel Abanikanda (who was also Hardman's teammate at Green Bay for some time) and guard Layden Robinson.

Of that group, Turner (who had previously played for the Raiders from 2021 to 2023) and Robinson ultimately received practice squad contracts from the franchise. Presley, meanwhile, ultimately signed with the Tennessee Titans to join their practice squad.

That would leave Hardman and Abanikanda unsigned, but the former eventually found a new home in Orchard Park. The latter, meanwhile, still remains a free agent as of this writing.

Edited by Andre Castillo