DeAndre Hopkins heard the noise this offseason when the Ravens signed him.
Washed. Graveyard.
After he made an eye-popping, one-handed touchdown catch in Buffalo in the Ravens' season opener, Hopkins went to the bench and mocked the critics.
"Wash me up," he said, rubbing his chest.
"I'm washed, right?" he said to Head Coach John Harbaugh as he came to celebrate.
After making another highlight-reel touchdown catch against the Browns in his M&T Bank Stadium debut as a Raven, Hopkins had nothing left to say. He simply did the Michael Jordan shrug.
At 33 years old, Hopkins is proving the age doubters wrong once again, just as Derrick Henry did last year, Kyle Van Noy did the year before, etc., etc.
Hopkins may not be quite as fleet of foot as he once was, but his knack for making contested catches hasn't gone anywhere. How does he keep doing it?
"That's a question for the Lord. He gave him that talent, and he's just great at making plays," Harbaugh said Monday.
"It's funny, I was watching the tape this morning very early, and I just thought that [the Browns'] young corner was covering DeAndre as well as he could. He couldn't cover him any better, and yet, Lamar [Jackson] puts the ball in a great spot, and DeAndre makes a great catch."
Hopkins believes he should have three touchdowns, but his 43-yard sliding catch against the Browns was reversed after replay assist to be marked down inside the 1-yard line. He questioned what he did to tick off somebody in the league office in New York and said they "definitely got that wrong."
Hopkins left no doubt on his second touchdown, as he cut underneath Browns cornerback Cameron Mitchell to lay out for the catch. With his 85th career touchdown, Hopkins moved into the NFL's top-20 list for career touchdown receptions.
"I've been doing this for a while, and it just comes from knowing where the quarterback is putting the ball. And just over and over doing it throughout my career," Hopkins said.
"These guys are definitely on a different skill set than when I came into the league 13 years ago. These DBs are definitely faster and stronger, so I just try to combat that with little things that I know how to win."
Hopkins has been a No. 1 monster for much of his career, particularly early on in Houston and Arizona. At this stage of his career, and with Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman in their primes, Hopkins' role has changed.
Now Hopkins has given Jackson another kind of weapon on the outside – someone he can be confident will make catches even when they're not open.
"I feel like we have that, but D-Hop's different," Jackson said. "He's a vet and he has seen it all at the cornerback position. The guy has huge hands to catch the ball – one hand, two fingers – it doesn't really matter. He made things happen.
"I believe people called him 'washed' and stuff like that, but he's showing otherwise."
Hopkins has only been targeted four times in the Ravens' first two games. He's played 28 offensive snaps so far – 16 fewer than fellow Ravens wide receiver Tylan Wallace. The Ravens have a lot of weapons, and the tight ends still haven't even gotten cranked up.
Hopkins' targets could fluctuate from game to game based on situations and matchups. But if he keeps making his reps count, the Ravens are going to be well off.
"The more DeAndre is on the field, I'm happy about that," Harbaugh said. "But if we don't have to have him out there too much doing things that aren't kind of difference-making things, too, that kind of makes sense as well. … Hopefully, it's a tiny dilemma that puts a lot of points on the board. That's what we're hoping for."
