Cardinals' DeAndre Hopkins hoping to get suspension reduced

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins earned a six-game suspension due to a violation of the NFL's PED policy. Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins hoping to 'get the games down a little bit' on suspension

By Adam Stites | Last updated 6/23/22

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins said Wednesday that he's still trying to figure out how he failed a drug test and earned a six-game suspension. He also said he hopes that he can get his suspension reduced, despite already withdrawing his appeal of the punishment.

Hopkins, 30, was "confused and shocked" by the suspension when it was announced in May and vowed to investigate how a performance-enhancing drug entered his system. On Wednesday, he revealed the mystery substance was ostarine, which he denies knowingly ingesting.

.@DeAndreHopkins on his 6-game PED suspension:

"It wasn't on me. I'm a natural.. It was called Ostarine. There was 0.1% found in my system.. (that's) contamination, not something directly taken. My team and I are still trying to figure out what's going on." @12SportsAZ @12News pic.twitter.com/diK9a2jdT1
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) June 23, 2022

"We're still doing some research right now, so hopefully before the season starts maybe we can get the games down a little bit," Hopkins said, via 12 News in Phoenix. "It wasn't on me. I'm a naturopathic kind of person. What it was, it was called ostarine and it was 0.1 percent of it found in my system.

"If you know what that is, it's contamination, not something directly taken. I don't take any supplements. ... For something like that to happen to me, obviously I was shocked, but my team and I, we're still trying to figure out what's going on."

Ostarine, also known as enobosarm, is listed as prohibited in the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy under the selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) category. It's the same substance that earned Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan a four-game suspension in 2019.

While Hopkins hopes to get "get the games down a little bit" on his suspension, that doesn't appear possible without a pending appeal. The five-time Pro Bowler finished the 2021 season with a career-low 42 receptions for 572 yards as he struggled with a hamstring injury and was eventually shut down for the year with an MCL tear.

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