Cardinals GM on DeAndre Hopkins’ injury status: ‘Look at his history’

DeAndre Hopkins, the NFL’s leading receiver, spent practices on Wednesday and Thursday sidelined.

An ankle issue, per the Arizona Cardinals’ official injury report, has his status in doubt as Arizona travels to face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Needing a bounce-back game as the Cardinals (2-1) come off their first loss of the year, it’s possible Arizona could be dipping deeper into the receiver room if Hopkins and Christian Kirk (groin) aren’t available.

Arizona general manager Steve Keim, though, did not sound worried that Hopkins’ practice status reflects on his ability to suit up Sunday.

“The one thing I will say about that is Hop knows his body better than anybody,” Keim told Arizona Sports’ Doug & Wolf on Friday. “When you look at his history, the fact of the matter is he just doesn’t miss football games. If I was betting on Hop, I’d be betting he would go, but only he knows his body and sort of where he’s at. Guys like him and Larry and Patrick Peterson, those guys are just cut from a different cloth.

“That was one alluring thing in the trade (to acquire Hopkins from Houston) for me: Not only were we acquiring a guy with elite talent, but the availability was off the charts when you look at his historical play on the field.”

To Keim’s point, Hopkins has missed only two out of 112 regular season games in his career thus far. One was due to injury and came in the season finale for a 4-12 team. The other, last year’s regular season finale, saw Hopkins sitting in a meaningless finale for the Texans, who had already locked in playoff positioning.

Veteran Houston Chronicle reporter John McClain, who covered Hopkins first seven NFL seasons with the Houston Texans, nearly scoffed at the idea that Hopkins appearing on the official injury report should be reason for concern from Cardinals — and fantasy football — fans.

For all those worried about DeAndre Hopkins missing practice with an ankle injury: He always answers the bell! As Aaron Rodgers might say: R-E-L-A-X!

— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) October 1, 2020

DeAndre Hopkins missed 1 game with Texans cause of an injury. Last game of 2017 when they were 4-12. If game had meant something, no doubt in my mind, he would have taped up the fracture and played.

— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) October 1, 2020

After joining the Cardinals, Hopkins missed a good chunk of training camp with a hamstring injury but looked quite healthy in Week 1, recording a career-high 14 catches for 151 yards against the San Francisco 49ers.

Knowing all of that, the Cardinals this Sunday could very well have an active Hopkins, who leads the NFL with 32 catches for 356 yards.

And that’s not all. Keim said that Kirk, who missed last week’s loss to the Detroit Lions, is likely a gametime decision, as is starting center Mason Cole, who has been out since Week 1 with a hamstring issue. Both starters were limited in practices this week.

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