DeAndre Hopkins' torn MCL recovery is an injury the Titans receiver has juggled before

NASHVILLE – The biggest question surrounding the Tennessee Titans injury report heading into Week 1 against the Chicago Bears is the status of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Before this week, Hopkins had not practiced since July 31st with a left knee injury that kept him out for the vast majority of training camp. The Titans […]

Sam Phalen
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NASHVILLE – The biggest question surrounding the Tennessee Titans injury report heading into Week 1 against the Chicago Bears is the status of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

Before this week, Hopkins had not practiced since July 31st with a left knee injury that kept him out for the vast majority of training camp. The Titans have remained steadfast in their hope that Hopkins would be able to return for the regular season opener in Chicago on Sunday.

Hopkins has been a limited participant in Titans practice throughout this week. He may not be 100 percent on Sunday, but there's still a chance he'll suit up. Hopkins told me in the locker room on Thursday that he "feels great," but that his status for Sunday's matchup with the Bears is still up in the air. 

"We'll see on Sunday," said Hopkins on Thursday afternoon. It's a pain tolerance issue for Hopkins at this point. "Football players, we've got a lot of pain all the time. So, I don't know who's not in pain playing football."

The veteran wide receiver did not seem too frustrated by his current situation. He referred back to other times in his career that he's been dealt a hand that held him back and he overcame it. "It's another day and another game," said Hopkins.

According to Paul Kuharsky at PaulKuharsky.com, Hopkins is recovering from a torn MCL that he suffered in practice in late July. 

"Thursday the Titans receiver told me just what he’s been recovering from since he last practiced on July 31st. 

“I had the MCL tear maybe four and a half, five weeks ago so the thing about those is it takes a whole year for them to heal,” Hopkins told Kuharsky. “Obviously it’s pain at that point.”

He did not have surgery on his left knee. I asked if it’s something that could turn into something that needs surgery,

“I don’t like speaking like that, I’m going to let you speak that,” he said laughing.

By the sound of things, Hopkins is trying to avoid surgery on the MCL and instead play through the pain. Is that doable? Yes, but it's definitely alarming that his knee could require surgery at a later date if playing through pain proves to be too difficult or things get worse. Surgery would sideline Hopkins for a substantial period of time, maybe for the entire season.

Hopkins has had a torn MCL previously in his career. In 2021 while playing with the Arizona Cardinals, Hopkins tore his MCL in a game against the Rams. At the time, the Cardinals placed Hopkins on Injured Reserve with hopes that he could return in the playoffs after a 4-6 week recovery.

Hopkins never made it back. The Cardinals lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs and the veteran wide out opted for surgery in the offseason. 

The Titans have projected Hopkins to miss between 4-6 weeks (the same timeline as his 2021 diagnosis) from the moment he went down and Tennessee's coaches have been optimistic that he'd be ready for Week 1. 

Wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert told the media on Thursday that Hopkins has been chomping at the bit to practice and "begging for more reps." Clearly, he wants to be out there and feels good enough to play, but Tolbert proceeded to say that he "needs to protect [Hopkins] from himself."

There's no reason for Titans to panic just yet…But the latest on Hopkins' knee is definitely more alarming than the information we were dealing with a few days ago.

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