The Arizona Cardinals really missed wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in the second half of the season. He missed games with a hamstring injury and then tore his MCL when he returned.
The injury was tough for him.
He was a guest on SiriusXM NFL Radio with Bruce Murray and Rich Gannon in Los Angeles on Radio Row during Super Bowl week and he spoke about the injury, where he is in his recovery and how he has felt.
“New territory me,” he said, “something I am not happy with, but it’s life.”
He is ahead of schedule in his rehab, he said as well. So had the Cardinals been able to advance in the postseason, it would seem that Hopkins was never going to be able to come back and play, even in the Super Bowl.
The hardest part of the injury was not the injury itself. It was the mental strain of knowing how badly he was needed and he was unable to help.
“I wish could have helped the guys get to the Super Bowl this year,” he said. “That was more hurtful than the injury itself, not playing.”
It took a mental toll on him.
“It was probably one of the worst feelings that I have had since playing in the NFL,” he added. “Getting there, winning 10-11 games, basically knowing that your team needs you to get to where they need to get to and not being able to help.
“It was helpless. Sometimes I didn’t want to be around the facility. I just cared so much about it and it was hard.”
It should motivate him for an even better 2022 so he doesn’t have to experience this again.
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