After watching one of his new teammates, Mecole Hardman, go down with a shoulder injury, the newest Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, knew he needed to step up in a major way and put his new team on his back.
Through half a game of action, so far so good for Hopkins, as he more than doubled his first game yard total before grabbing an Uncrustables during halftime – assuming he had one of the 80,000 the NFL eats weekly – and when he recorded his first touchdown as a member of the team, you'd better believe he used the opportunity to hype up his new teammates at the expense of his old ones.
Oh snap, when you really think about it, that's rather brutal, right?
Now sure, when the final story of Hopkins' career is written, he will likely be remembered best for his initial run with the Houston Texans, for his extended run with the Arizona Cardinals, where he earned even more career highlights, and potentially for his run with the Chiefs should they make it to the Super Bowl. But his time in Tennessee isn't inconsequential either, as he played a borderline unprecedented part in making that offense work both under Mike Vrabel and Brian Callahan and likely made Will Levis look better than he was.
Then again, who is to say that Hopkins was actually making fun of the Titans? Maybe he was simply remembering his run with the team and, in a small way, thanking them for giving him an opportunity to actually compete for something meaningful in 2024, instead of struggling with Levis, Callahan, and company. In a way, the Titans actually did the future Hall of Famer a favor, which he, in turn, is paying off with big plays, multiple catches, and ultimately, TD passes on Monday Night Football.
Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes are excited to have DeAndre Hopkins
Discussing the addition of Hopkins ahead of Monday Night Football, Andy Reid told reporters he's very excited to have #8 on his team, as he's been incredibly studious in the pursuit of becoming part of KC's offense.
“He's really handled things the right way,” Reid said via SI. “Been really diligent on studying and asking questions, staying late, coming in early, the whole deal there. His role will continue to increase this week. We're comfortable with that, and I think he's comfortable with it.”
“He's really handled things the right way,” Reid said. “Been really diligent on studying and asking questions, staying late, coming in early, the whole deal there. His role will continue to increase this week. We're comfortable with that, and I think he's comfortable with it.”
Patrick Mahomes weighed in on Hopkins' addition, too, letting fans and reporters alike know that he's very excited about what he can bring to the offense.
“Yeah, I think whenever you're able to put him in there, obviously we're going to be able to hit some throws down the field,” Mahomes said. “I think hitting him kind of over that medium to long range is going to open up other guys down the field and take pressure off other guys as far as eyes and coverage. Whenever you've got, really, two guys when you talk about DeAndre and Trav that are all kind of working in that medium-type range in the football field, it opens up the deeper throws because teams have to account for that.”
Based on his performances in Week 9, it's safe to say so far, so good for Nuke Hopkins in KC.
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