TEMPE — It’ll be awhile before we see Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins take meaningful snaps this regular season.
Week 7 to be exact, thanks to a six-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
On top of his scheduled absence, there’s also an MCL injury from last season to keep tabs on as Hopkins works his way back to full strength.
And while it’s unclear as to where he’s at in the rehab process, seeing the wide receiver in uniform at the start of the open portion of OTAs on Monday is at the very least a positive sign.
“He’s been moving around well,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury said of Hopkins, who turned 30 on Monday. “I think he’s right on schedule. He’ll be full-go for training camp.”
Given how Arizona’s season came off the rails last year with Hopkins on the shelf, getting him back in the mix is undoubtedly a big boost to the offense.
But unlike training camps past, Kingsbury and Co. will have to be very diligent in balancing Hopkins’ workload in the starting offense with those who will be actually be available at the start of the season.
“We’ve got to be smart in how we ramp him up, obviously not playing in the first six games, so we’ve got to talk through that and make sure we have a really good plan,” Kingsbury added.
There’s no question Hopkins elevates the offense. Despite playing just 10 games last season, the wide receiver led all Cardinals pass catchers with eight touchdowns to go along with 42 catches on 64 targets for 572 yards. He also accounted for 32 first downs.
Once he makes his return to the field in Week 7, Arizona will finally get to see the pairing of Hopkins and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown in action after the Cardinals swung a draft-day deal to acquire the former Baltimore Raven.
Hopkins isn’t the only Cardinal eyeing a full return to the practice field come August, either.
Defensive end Zach Allen has been seen rehabbing an ankle issue on the side during OTAs this offseason but is expected to be “full-go for training camp.”
Allen took another step forward in his NFL progression last season, recording 48 tackles, four sacks, 14 QB hits and four passes defensed across 15 games, all career marks. He also doubled his starts from seven in 2020 to 14 this past year.