TEMPE, Ariz. – In one of the most touching exercise debates since Allen Iverson’s famous comments in 2002, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins defended her practice habits on Wednesday.
Yes, Hopkins, one of the cardinal’s franchise players, was really talking about practice. It’s not a game. Practice.
Hopkins found himself under fire from critics for missing a number of training sessions this season, but the lack of training time was not important to the NFL’s leading receiver with 1,324 yards, who was named his fifth Pro Bowl on Monday.
Of the 40 training sessions so far this season – an injury report on Wednesday was not yet available – Hopkins missed 17 and 12 are coming on Wednesday, nine of which were for veteran days off, according to reports from Cardinals ’injury. He missed five workouts with an ankle injury, including the entire 4th week and two-thirds of the 7th week. He missed one workout in week 12 with the disease and another workout in week 13 with neck and back problems.
He was also restricted three times.
The only week Hopkins was not listed in the injury report was in Week 6 when the Cardinals played for the Dallas Cowboys in “Football Monday”.
But Hopkins has yet to miss a game in his first season with the Cardinals. Hopkins accused local media in Arizona of inciting criticism of his training schedule, saying his grandfather follows local sports shows and reports any negative comments to Hopkins.
“Yeah, man, I heard a lot of negatives about not exercising when I first came to Arizona,” he said. “I don’t watch local news and channels in Arizona and the sports station, but my grandfather is a passionate listener of anything and everyone. I think if any of you say something bad about me, my grandfather, he’s Well, I’ve seen all the blogs and all those things, I’m pretty sure some of you may have been there and made it up, but I’m not going to say the names.
“But there’s a reason I play football and they watch. And there’s a reason people are in positions for a reason. So I really didn’t listen to him. I don’t listen to him. I listen to my grandpa, and he said, ‘Man, Arizona, they really love you now, because you don’t train and all the critics in sports people, ‘But my grandfather also knows who I am, and he knows how productive I am on that football field. they don’t know what I’ve been through or what I’m dealing with, and I’m not letting my news or really publish what’s happening to me in the future. “
Hopkins offered to be a guest on local sports shows, but said he charges for news appearances, although news organizations have a habit of not paying guests, and said he would charge a reduced price to outlets that criticized him.
“And tell those people,” Hopkins said, “who say I don’t practice coming to watch me play the game.”