Vrabel Confirms DeAndre Hopkins' Patriots Departure

Well, it was apparently nice while it lasted.

Former NFL wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins appeared set for a potential stint with the New England Patriots coaching staff, having briefly spent the end of last week working with receivers as the team kicked off training camp.

However, it sounds like for whatever reason, Hopkins’ brief stint in New England doesn’t appear like it will be continuing.

Head coach mike Vrabel told reporters on Thursday that the former NFL wideout is no longer with the team, but he was glad to have had the opportunity to work with him.

“Well, it was a great experience. Hop’s not here, but it was a great experience for, I think, all of us,” said Vrabel of having Hopkins here. “And I think that’s what we would try to do when you have some of these unique situations where a player or former player or whatever it may be wants to come in and help and learn, and they love football. And so I think it was good for everybody.”

Head coach Mike Vrabel mentioned last week that the wideout was here “just to kind of check things out as far as what he wants to do as far as coaching,” letting reporters know that he was here in that capacity and not potentially that of a player.

Hopkins was spotted working with various players over the weekend, and things seemed to be going relatively well. Instead, Vrabel made the announcement and didn’t provide any details other than essentially saying the team was happy to have him for what little time he was with the program.

Vrabel explained last week that the goal when it comes to the receivers is to try and bring the best out of everybody, which is the challenge each position coach deals with and he praised Todd Downing for their success in 2025.

“Each player at that position has to kind of find out what it is that they do well. Kyle Williams is a much different receiver than Mack Hollins, or AJ [Brown] is a much different receiver than Pop [Douglas],” said Vrabel. “And then our job is to make sure that we’re putting the best players and the ones that can help us win in the right spots and the right personnel group.”

“So I’m excited about the group. I said this last year, Todd [Downing] did a great job coming in and coaching that group last year. And it was the reason that we had a lot of success was because of that group and our quarterback play and everything else. So that has to continue to improve. It has to be better than what it was last year.”

In the meantime, the work continued on Thursday, with the receiver position expected to continue to be a competitive one in the coming weeks.

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.

View all posts by Ian Logue