Tennessee Titans veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins won’t need surgery on the knee injury sustained at practice last week.
“As you guys well know, DeAndre Hopkins will miss a couple of weeks,” Tennessee first-year head coach Brian Callahan told reporters on Saturday. “Let’s call it several weeks with a knee, not a surgical issue. So, the timeline can vary on those injuries. So, it’ll be a few weeks probably until he’s back and ready to roll.”
Initial reports indicated that the 32-year-old Hopkins would miss 4-6 weeks. However, according to multiple reports, the Titans are now optimistic that Hopkins can be ready for their season opener at Chicago on Sept. 8.
In July of last year, Hopkins inked a two-year deal with a base salary of $12 million that’s believed to have paid him nearly $15 million with incentives. Hopkins played in all 17 games for Tennessee in his 11th season in the league, producing 75 receptions for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns.
Despite Hopkins’ steady production, the Titans struggled to a 6-11 straight-up record and a 7-9-1 against-the-spread mark.
Fortunately for the Titans, they’ve added quality depth to their wide receiver room going into 2024. The team signed veteran WRs Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd during the offseason.
Ridley returned to the field last season for the Jacksonville Jaguars after what was basically a two-year absence. The NFL suspended him for the entire 2022 campaign for violations of the league’s sports betting policies.
In 2021 after playing in five games, Ridley took a leave of absence from the Atlanta Falcons to cope with “mental health issues.” For the Jags last year, he had the second-best year of his career, hauling in 76 catches for 1,016 yards and eight TDs.
Boyd played eight seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals after they made him their second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The former Pittsburgh Panther started 13 of 17 games in 2023, catching 67 balls for 667 yards and two TDs.
For his career, Boyd has started 77 of 120 games, producing 513 receptions for 6,000 yards and 31 TDs.
Hopkins is a five-time Pro-Bowler who has more career catches (928) than any active NFL player. He’s second among active players in career receiving yards (12,355) and eighth in TD catches (78).
Most books have the Bears installed as 4.5-point home favorites vs. the Titans, who are +180 on the money line at the Westgate SuperBook. The total is 43 or 43.5 points.
FanDuel has Tennessee’s season win total at 6.5 (‘under’ -128, ‘over’ +104). The Titans have 150/1 odds to win Super Bowl LIX, and they have +950 odds to win the AFC South.