Texans rookie receiver earns respect with work ethic

Jim Corbett | USA TODAY Sports

HOUSTON – A week ago after practice, Houston Texans rookie DeAndre Hopkins hit the weight room thinking he'd get in a quiet workout only to be challenged to a test of will by J.J. Watt, the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

Hopkins, who leads all rookies with 243 receiving yards on 18 catches with one touchdown entering Sunday's showdown against the Seattle Seahawks, learned first-hand what makes Watt such a relentless playmaker.

Along the way, the kid with the 10-inch sized hands earned Watt's respect with moxie to match his triple-large, oversized receiver gloves.

"It was just me and him in there lifting, and J.J. just told me, 'You're not going to outwork me,''' Hopkins told USA TODAY Sports Friday. "I said, 'I promise you, I'll outwork you.'

"J.J. said, 'I like that.'''

The 27th overall pick in the April draft did his best to hang in there. But pretty soon, his arms were burning, turning to rubber.

"I was trying to keep up with J.J. and I couldn't,'' Hopkins says. "J.J.'s a real quiet guy, hard worker during the week. But I call him the Incredible Hulk. Come game day, he just becomes a monster.

"Yeah, I left the weight room before he left.''

But not before the former cornerback-turned-receiver, who earned the nickname "Superman'' at D.W. Daniel High in Central, S.C., left a strong impression on Watt with a beyond-his-years demeanor.

"DeAndre has got the right mentality – the biggest thing is he wants to be great, wants to put in the work,'' Watt told USA TODAY Sports. "He's showing all the time that he's a big playmaker. He's got all the tools and is doing all those things on the field.

"And he's in the weight room every Saturday after our walk-through. Saturday is that day I go in there after our walk-through and do my thing. I love an empty weight room. I love to put in that work when everybody else is resting.

"So it's always nice to see somebody else pop in, too. For a rookie, it's really good to see that.''

It says a lot that Texans franchise receptions leader Andre Johnson has taken Hopkins under his wing, saying the kid who set Clemson school records in receiving yards (3,020) and touchdown grabs (27) before forgoing his senior season, will be better than him one day.

When Johnson was knocked out of Houston's Week 2 meeting against Tennessee with a concussion, Hopkins helped the 2-1 Texans pull out a 30-24 overtime victory with the winning 3-yard touchdown grab. That capped his seven-catch, 117-yard effort.

His 243 receiving yards is the third-highest total through a team's first three games since 2004. Only Detroit's Roy Williams, with 277 yards in 2004, and Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson, with 256 yards in 2008, had more.

"Anytime a guy like that says something that extraordinary, it's a huge honor,'' says Hopkins. "Being with Andre is a blessing, playing alongside someone who's done everything I want to accomplish in the NFL. The only thing he hasn't done is win a Super Bowl ... So we're both working toward that same goal.

"He's a big brother, role model right beside me teaching me.''

So how is Andre coaching DeAndre to handle trash-talking, physical Seahawks cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner on Sunday at Reliant Stadium?

"I feed off Andre,'' Hopkins says. "If Andre might be out there talking, I need to do what Andre's doing.

"I go as Andre goes ... He's told me that they're going to talk. But also he told me, you go out there and earn their respect by beating them.''