The Arizona Cardinals were one play away from staying perfect in their Thursday Night Football matchup against the Green Bay Packers. But alas, it was not meant to be.
One player who clearly gave his all, maybe even more than he should have, was Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The three-time All-Pro selection had been dealing with a hamstring injury that's kept him out of practice all week, but still managed to start the contest.
Hopkins tweaked his hamstring in the first quarter of the game and was forced to exit. But while Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was ready to sit his star receiver, to potentially lose the battle to win the war, DeAndre Hopkins was not having it.
https://twitter.com/SportsAzFan/status/1453894714617331716
“Fuck it, DeAndre Hopkins out there somewhere” pic.twitter.com/ONBAnzkOSu
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) October 29, 2021
The wideout repeatedly re-entered the field, going against the wishes of his head coach. Kingsbury was brutally honest that he wasn't happy about Hopkins' defiant behavior.
Via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN:
“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 want him to be smart, but he was definitely hurting.”
The Cardinals coach understands that it comes from DeAndre Hopkins' innate desire to win. But Kingsbury was quick to remind him that he was to be smart about the injury, especially with something as tricky as a hamstring issue.
“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.
The Arizona Cardinals will look to start a new win streak against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 9. Hopefully, DeAndre Hopkins is fully healthy as not to worry Kliff Kingsbury as much.
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