Even though Texans coach Gary Kubiak said he benched rookie wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins for “a lot of mistakes” early in last week’s loss to the Raiders, Hopkins had a different view.
“It was one route that I messed up on,” Hopkins said, via Dave Zangaro of CSNHouston.com. “I guess I didn’t have that much room to mess up on, so one play got me benched.”
Hopkins returned to the game, and played 46 of the team’s 73 offensive snaps. But he caught just one pass for 7 yards. For the season, he has 38 catches for 546 yards and two scores.
“I wasn’t too happy because I’m a competitive person,” he said. “I like to be out on the field. It wasn’t a happy feeling.”
The Texans had, and presumably still have, high hopes for this year’s first-round pick, who has started opposite Andre Johnson since his arrival.
But whether it’s for one play or several (and you’d think Kubiak or a position coach would make that clear to him at some point), getting the message through to him that he’s accountable is something they’re clearly trying to establish.