The 49ers whipped the Cardinals on the field Monday night, and San Francisco cornerback Charvarius Ward added insult to defeat by bashing Arizona wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in a postgame interview.
Ward frequently defended Hopkins often during the game, and Hopkins enjoyed a strong first-half performance, tallying seven catches for 77 yards. However, Ward and the 49ers limited Hopkins to two catches for 14 yards in the second half. The Cardinals wideout also received a taunting penalty.
After the 49ers completed their 38-10 dismantling of the Cardinals, Ward sounded off on Hopkins in an interview with KNBR-AM, going so far as to call the wide receiver a “steroid boy” in reference to his six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
“D-Hop, he think he a tough guy. He think he still one of the best receivers in the league and he really not,” Ward told KNBR. “He was trying to talk noise and talk hard all game. We not scared of him. He thought we was scared of him. He tried to intimidate us, but forget him. We did our thing. We went out there and got a dub, and we did our job. He was just yip-yapping all game, but we don’t care about that. We just wanted to win.”
Additionally, Ward said he felt Hopkins was playing dirty on Monday.
“He was getting locked up. He was doing some dirty things,” Ward said. “He tried to clip me. He grabbed me by the throat. He grabbed my facemask on one play, so I don’t respect his game. That’s steroid boy.”
The Cardinals and 49ers still have another matchup this season—the Jan. 8 regular-season finale at Levi’s Stadium.
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