While the Cardinals have struggled this year, DeAndre Hopkins was supposed to lift them up when he returned from a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. Through three games, after a warm embrace over his return, Hopkins has lived up to the billing on an individual level.
Unfortunately for Arizona, it’s lost its last two games to the contending Vikings and Seahawks, spiraling into an essentially hopeless 3-6 mark. That latter defeat to Seattle appears to have shown some potential friction between Hopkins and Kyler Murray.
In a new clip from Hard Knocks In Season, Hopkins is clearly frustrated over a play where he didn’t get the ball. And when Hopkins tries to bring up the result to Murray, the quarterback snaps back with some frustrations of his own. The video provides more context over a testy exchange we already witnessed between two players who should almost always be on the same page:
Here’s a taste. The sideline exchange between DHop and Kyler a lot juicier with audio. pic.twitter.com/IXseiKh2Fe
— Jody Oehler (@radiojody) November 10, 2022
I don’t want to read into this heated argument too much, considering quarterbacks and receivers are likely working out their differences on play calls and throws much more often than we think. Plus, Hopkins has been targeted 32 times in his three games in 2022, putting him on a pace for roughly 181 targets. Over a full 17-game sample size, only the Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill and Rams’ Cooper Kupp would be on pace to see more targets this season.
However, given all the controversy that’s bogged the Cardinals down since the summer and, more importantly, given their ongoing catastrophic season — I also think it’s fair to wonder whether there’s more to this Hopkins-Murray conversation than we think. Because I find it hard to imagine anyone in Arizona is happy to be three games under .500 in mid-November.
Even with the fellow struggling Rams next on the Cardinals’ docket, it’s hard to imagine they turn it around if Hopkins and Murray aren’t on the same page.