The Arizona Cardinals will have to start the 2022 NFL season without one of their star players. The best wide receiver on the Cardinals’ roster, DeAndre Hopkins, was suspended for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. He will miss six games as a result.
An NFL spokesperson said that the player had been suspended “without pay” and that the Cardinals will be without his services for the first six games of the 2022 season but that he would be “eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games.
“Shocked” and “Confused” with the Test Result
DeAndre Hopkins produced a positive test for a prohibited substance and was also found to have been trying to manipulate the test by attempting to dilute the specimen he provided using a diuretic or masking agent. The test was conducted in November last year.
The wide receiver wrote in a statement that he was “shocked” and “confused” with the test result, adding that, in his 10-year NFL career, he had never tested positive for prohibited substances or performance-enhancing drugs.
The 29-year-old said that he was mindful of everything he put in his body and that even though he was a player who always took a “holistic approach” it was obvious that he could have been more careful this time.
Hopkins ended his statement by apologizing to fans, teammates, and everyone in the Cardinals organization, saying that it was never his intention to let his team down and that when he had more information about what had happened, he would share it.
A Massive Player for the Cardinals
DeAndre’s suspension was the reason why the Cardinals traded with the Ravens for wide receiver Marquise Brown and gave up on a No. 23 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The Cardinals also lost another wide receiver, Christian Kirk, during the offseason, so Hopkins missing the first six games of the new season is even more of a blow for the team, especially as he is seen as a key player.
That was clear for all to see last season. The wide receiver missed seven games, most of which were in the second part of the season, due to a series of injuries, one of which required surgery.
It is fair to say that the Cardinals were less than impressive without their star player. Their record without Hopkins was 3-4, and they failed to score more than 16 points in three of those four defeats.
With the latest suspension of 6 games, Hopkins is on course to miss 11 NFL games in a row, as he didn’t appear in the last five games of last season too.
De Andre Hopkins is one of the most accomplished pass-catchers in the NFL. He has been chosen as an All-Pro player three times in his career and has made the Pro-Bowl cut in five of his nine NFL seasons.
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