Houston Texans: DeAndre Hopkins needs to sit out the season finale

The Houston Texans are almost at the finish line of what has been a season of dismay, heartbreak and a few positives. Whether we win or not is irrelevant but the fact that DeAndre Hopkins is not healthy is. He shouldn’t play Sunday and here’s why.

The Houston Texans are 4-11 on the season and they’re about to embark on one of the worst in franchise history. It’s not because of our lack of talent but lack of that said talent to be available to play. I don’t have to tell you that the Houston Texans are going through an unprecedented era of injuries as a batch of players head to training room with whatever malady that they have each week.

It’s a tough pill to swallow but it’s certainly the reality that we’re living in. The fact that we’ve lost Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus as well as up-and-coming contributors in D’Onta Foreman and Christian Covington is unfortunate to say the least.

But the one guy that has been a constant throughout the entire season is DeAndre Hopkins. No matter what quarterback was throwing to him, whether it be Watson, Tom Savage or T.J. Yates, he

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put on a show and his stats are lingering around career-highs which is why he certainly deserved his Pro Bowl nod.

After all of the injuries, he truly was one of the main reasons to watch Houston Texans football on game day. You’d never know what he was going to do and you certainly were going to see a great battle, especially if he’s lined up in front of an elite corner like Jalen Ramsey.

That’s why I’d like to thank Hop for showing up to work when scheduled as he could’ve mailed it in when DW4 went down. But he battled because ultimately, he’s an athlete and he’ll remain competitive as such.

For this reason, Hopkins should be allowed a mulligan on Sunday’s meaningless game to get a head start on nursing his calf injury — something that’s been bothering him for weeks — before the commencement of next season’s training camp.

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I’m perfectly okay with him sitting as we do still have Will Fuller and Braxton Miller available to make things interesting Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. This will give an opportunity to give the guys on the roster bubble the ability to showcase their talents as the curtain drops on 2017.

Off 174 targets, Hopkins, 25, has caught 96 balls for 1,378 yards — 14.4 yards per catch — and 13 touchdowns this season.

Go Texans.

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