Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins speaks out for first time since suspension

Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins spoke to the media for the first time on Wednesday since the NFL handed him a six-game ban for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

Hopkins has vowed to fight the ban.

“We’re still doing some research right now,” he said before a charity softball event in Phoenix. “Hopefully, before the season starts, maybe we can get the games down a little bit. But no, it wasn’t on me. I’m a natural. I’m pretty much a naturopathic kind of person, man. And what it was, it was called Ostarine, and there was 0.1% of it found in my system. If you know what that is, it’s contamination, not something directly taken.”

According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator and is “not approved for human use or consumption in the U.S., or in any other country.”

“I don’t take any supplements,” said Hopkins. “I’ve never [taken] supplements, I barely take vitamins. So for something like that to happen to me, obviously, I was shocked. But my team and I, we’re still trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Hopkins finished the 2021 season with 572 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns in 10 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury that required surgery. He says he is on the mend.

“I’ve been good. Recovering, healing,” Hopkins added. “Unfortunately, [I’ve] got to miss six games. But you know, it is what it is. The team will be ready, and I’ll be ready when I’m up.”

As of right now, it doesn’t look like his ban will be lifted so Hopkins will be forced to support his teammates from afar on game day.

“I’m a competitor so anytime I’m not on the field, for me, it’s frustrating,” he said. “But that’s the NFL. Next man up. I have no doubt in those guys to win those six games until I’m ready.”