| Advertisement |
May 2 (UPI) -- Arizona Cardinals superstar wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was suspended six games for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, the league announced Monday. Hopkins' suspension comes just four days after the Cardinals traded their first-round pick in last week's NFL Draft to the Baltimore Ravens for speedy wideout Marquise Brown.
Advertisement
The 29-year-old Hopkins will be allowed to play during the preseason and practice with the Cardinals until the start of the 2022 regular season.
Hopkins, a five-time All-Pro choice and five-time Pro Bowl selection, is coming off an injury-plagued 2021 season that led to the lowest output of his career.
He missed three games in the middle of last season due to an ankle injury and the final four games of the regular season -- in addition to Arizona's wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams -- after suffering an MCL injury in Week 14. The knee was surgically repaired in December.
In February, Hopkins said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that his rehabilitation was ahead of schedule.
Hopkins finished last season with 572 receiving yards and eight touchdowns on 42 receptions. The Cardinals posted a 3-4 record without Hopkins during the regular season before their blowout 34-11 loss to the Rams in the postseason.
In parts of two seasons with the Cardinals since the franchise acquired him from the Houston Texans in a 2020 trade, Hopkins has totaled 157 catches for 1,979 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Hopkins missed just two games over the first eight seasons of his NFL career before missing seven last year.
