The NFL announced that the Arizona Cardinals will lose star receiver DeAndre Hopkins for the first six games of the 2022 season due to a suspension initiated by a performance-enhancing drug allegation.

On Monday, the Hopkins’ brand manager, Doug Sanders, made a statement via ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He said that every colleague of Hopkins’ was “completely shocked by this finding because he is extremely diligent about what he puts in his body”.

“DeAndre is committed to demonstrating that he did not knowingly take a banned substance,” Sanders said. “He has never tested positive throughout his 10 years. We’re currently testing every product he used to figure out how this could have happened and will release any new information as soon as we have it.”

Since Hopkins’ October and December test results were negative, he is planning to investigate the positive result found in November.

He added, “But even as careful as I have been, clearly I wasn’t careful enough. For that, I apologize to Cardinals fans, my teammates, and the entire Cardinals organization. I never want to let my team down.”

Despite a knee and hamstring injury, Hopkins led the team in 2021 with eight touchdown catches and finished the season with 42 catches for 572 yards.