DeAndre Hopkins continues to do the amazing.
In the first quarter of Sunday's game at Jacksonville, the Texans receiver did what he's done so many times before: catch a pass with one hand.
On 3rd-and-5 at their own 25-yard line, the Texans faced a Jaguar defense that had 11 players all at the line of scrimmage. Hopkins went up the right sideline, stabbed his left hand out, corralled the ball in from quarterback Deshaun Watson, and managed to pick up a few more yards after the catch. It resulted in a 31-yard gain, and it prompted comparisons to some of his other acrobatic catches since entering the NFL in 2013.
"Deshaun put it on the money," Hopkins said. "It's up there. Against an All-Pro corner, it's Top 2."
Hopkins was matched up with the Jaguars' Jalen Ramsey. But Hopkins' teammate Jadeveon Clowney said he's seen that type of reception by Hopkins many times over the years at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
"Man, that's a practice play," Clowney said. "He does that in practice."
A few plays later, Ka'imi Fairbairn knocked in a 48-yard field goal, and the Texans were up 6-0 with 2:39 remaining in the first quarter.
Later in the game, with 10:30 left in the third quarter, Hopkins struck again. He pulled in a 10-yard pass from Watson for a touchdown, and staked Houston to a 20-0 advantage. The Texans receiver finished Sunday's win over the Jaguars with three catches for 50 yards.
"He made some big plays," head coach Bill O'Brien said of Hopkins. "The catch at the beginning of the game got us going a little bit. That's 'Hop. 'Hop's a great player."
Hopkins now has 47 catches for 707 yards and four touchdowns in 2018.
See photos of Texans players arriving in Jacksonville for today's game. Arrival photos are presented by Palais Royal. Vote your favorite gameday fit here!
