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Tag Archives: deandre hopkins
Arizona Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins expected to miss rest of regular season with knee sprain
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a sprained knee, but the team is hopeful to get him back at some point in the postseason, leagues sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler.
Hopkins is seeking a second opinion with Dr. Neal ElAttrache. It is still uncertain whether Hopkins will need surgery.
Hopkins suffered the injury in Monday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams and had an MRI on Tuesday. With 1:13 remaining in the game, Hopkins went up to try to catch a pass between two Rams defenders in the end zone and both defenders came down on top of his legs.
He rolled over on his knees in pain and didn’t play for the remainder of the game.
Hopkins missed three games earlier this season with a hamstring injury.
He leads the Cardinals (10-3) with eight touchdown receptions this season, his second with the franchise, which acquired him in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans last year.
The five-time Pro Bowl selection also has 42 receptions and 572 receiving yards this season.
ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss contributed to this report.
Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins to play for Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, listed as questionable because of his lingering ankle injury, will start Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, listed as questionable because of a hamstring issue, will also play. However, the veteran could be used more sparingly than usual due to his injury and potential weather conditions, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
In the week leading up to the Bears game, Kingsbury and the Cardinals took their familiar cautious approach to Murray’s status, considering his high left ankle sprain. On Friday, Kingsbury said his quarterback’s status would be a game-time decision, in part because of strategy and in part because last year’s tailspin in the final nine games of the season is still fresh in his memory.
Murray was “better this week,” Kingsbury said, adding he is hopeful that the quarterback will feel good and “be ready to roll.” Murray hasn’t played since spraining his ankle in the final moments of a Week 8 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
The Cardinals had some fun on Twitter with the return of Murray, by referencing Michael Jordan’s statement upon his return to the Chicago Bulls.
pic.twitter.com/pjnII9kwfW
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) December 5, 2021
Arizona heads into Week 13 with a 9-2 record, the best in the NFL, and owns the No. 1 seed in the NFC and first place in the NFC West.
Last year’s late-season tailspin, when Arizona went 3-6 after starting 5-2, in part because of multiple injuries to Murray, has played a factor in Kingsbury being ultra-cautious with him.
“I just think we want to finish the right way this season, and we didn’t last year,” Kingsbury said. “So we’re just trying to be smart about it.”
Kingsbury hasn’t been surprised by how long Murray has taken to heal, because high ankle sprains are “tricky. Everybody knows that.”
Hopkins wasn’t on the field for the open portion of practice Friday after being limited Wednesday and Thursday.
“We’re just being smart,” Kingsbury said. “We want to make sure he feels really good for the stretch run, and so we’ll see how he progresses, run him on Sunday and see if he can go.”
Hopkins said having the past two weeks off because of the bye helped him “a lot.”
“Rest is key,” he said.
Hopkins, who had missed two games in his entire career before missing the past three, doesn’t think he will be rusty and isn’t concerned about his hamstring responding to him playing at full speed.
“I know what I can do out there when I’m healthy,” he said. “So go out there and do my best to help this team win.”
ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss contributed to this report.
Arizona Cardinals to gauge status of Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins during warm-ups, source says
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the San Francisco 49ers due to a sprained left ankle, is expected to test his injury in pregame warm-ups before the staff makes a final decision on his status, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Cardinals want to be careful leading up to this divisional game. If Murray doesn’t start, Colt McCoy will head under center for Arizona, which is coming off its first loss of the season.
Arizona doesn’t sound as optimistic that wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, also listed as questionable due to a hamstring injury, will be able to play vs. the 49ers. But he, too, will partake in pregame warm-ups, and the Cardinals will gauge his status at that time.
Murray didn’t practice Wednesday and Thursday, and wasn’t on the field for the open portion of Friday’s practice, either. On Friday, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters that if Murray is healthy enough to continue playing at a “high level” from the pocket despite injury, then he would play.
“We’re not going to put them out there unless he can function,” Kingsbury said. “He wants to play, so we’ll see.”
Murray leads the NFL in completion percentage — 77.4% — in the pocket, third in yards per attempt, fourth in yards per drop back and sixth in passing yards. He also has the league’s lowest off-target percentage from the pocket, along with the highest adjusted completion percentage, lowest contact and lowest contact percentage from the pocket.
Murray remained confident during the week, despite the lack of practice. Kingsbury said his quarterback spent time rehabbing inside the building with trainers instead of practicing, and that the staff had been “putting him through the ringer trying to get him ready.”
“I think I’ll be good to go on Sunday if I just know the game plan and get the mental reps,” Murray said on Wednesday.
ESPN Staff Writer Josh Weinfuss contributed to this report.
Cardinals coach doesn’t sound thrilled with DeAndre Hopkins sneaking onto field
The Cardinals could not keep star receiver DeAndre Hopkins off the field … literally.
Hopkins aggravated his hamstring during a 58-yard catch in the first quarter of Thursday’s heartbreaking 24-21 loss to the Packers. And Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury could only keep his star receiver from re-entering the game for so long — despite his best efforts.
Kingsbury said in a postgame press conference that Hopkins checked himself back in “a couple times” after missing the better part of two quarters.
“We wanted him to stay off the field, but he’d just run on,” Kingsbury said. “He wants to play, super competitive and made some plays there, and we just wanted to be smart. But he was definitely hurting.”
Midway through the first quarter, Hopkins sprinted down the sideline against cornerback Eric Stokes — slowing and then re-accelerating in his route to catch Stokes off-guard — and hauled in Kyler Murray’s throw near the 20-yard line. But as he neared the goal line, Hopkins’ hand latched onto Stokes’ helmet, resulting in the facemask penalty.
After that play, ESPN reported that Hopkins didn’t return until there was 8:15 left in the third quarter, and he logged just 13 snaps overall against Green Bay. But on those plays, the Cardinals averaged 10.9 yards per play — more than six yards more than the 42 snaps he wasn’t on the field. Hopkins finished with two catches, securing both of his targets, for 66 yards.
“He wants to be out there,” Kingsbury said. “He’s competitive as anybody I’ve been around, and he ended up making some plays. But, we also have a lot of games left so we’re trying to be smart with him.”
Arizona’s loss against Green Bay was its first of the 2021 season. The Cardinals couldn’t capitalize on the Packers’ depleted wide receiver depth chart that lacked Davante Adams and Allen Lazard, both on the COVID-19 list, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (hamstring). Tight end Robert Tonyan left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury, too.
But on the Cardinals’ final offensive drive, as the game ticked down into its final seconds, Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas — who the team signed off of the Cardinals’ practice squad three weeks prior — intercepted Murray’s back-corner throw that AJ Green didn’t turn and look for. That halted a drive which started back on Arizona’s 1-yard line, after its defense made a goal-line stand to keep the deficit at three points.
Hopkins, who didn’t practice leading up to the “Thursday Night Football” game on a short week, now has until Nov. 7 — when the Cardinals travel to San Francisco — for his nagging hamstring to heal.
“That’s a big part of our offense, having that guy,” Kingsbury said.