Last season was a painful one for DeAndre Hopkins. The Texans didn’t advance as far as he had hoped, and he was more banged up than ever in his six seasons.
Hopkins didn’t miss a game, catching 115 passes for 1,572 yards and 11 touchdowns in the regular season in earning All-Pro honors. But he played through a nagging foot injury.
Then, he injured his shoulder in the playoff loss to the Colts, tearing “ligaments . . . completely off the bone.” Hopkins played all 71 snaps, though he caught only five passes for 37 yards.
“Last year was tough, not just physically but mentally,” Hopkins said Saturday during an appearance at the Tri-Star Show at NRG Arena, via John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. “It’s the most banged up I’ve ever been playing football.”
Hopkins has missed only one game in his career for injury, always managing to stay on the field no matter how painful.
“I was dealing with serious injuries [last season] a lot of people would have sat down for,” Hopkins said. “But we had a good team that depended on me, and I never gave a thought to not playing unless the doctors told me I couldn’t.”
Hopkins has spent the offseason rehabbing his foot and shoulder and expects to be ready for training camp.