Titans' Henry, Lewis here to 'get to the Super Bowl'

THOMPSON’S STATION — Derrick Henry waited two long years for his chance to own the spotlight as the Titans’ featured running back, like he was at Alabama, where he stormed to a national championship and won the Heisman Trophy.

When DeMarco Murray was released days before the start of free agency, it appeared Henry’s time had come.

"Say no more," Henry tweeted a day later, sharing a compilation of his best runs posted by the team. But the Titans soon signed another veteran back, luring Dion Lewis from the Patriots by making him among the 10 highest-paid players at his position in the NFL. Henry’s initial reaction? “Whatever is best for the team,” Henry said Tuesday before signing autographs during a stop on the annual Titans Caravan promotional tour. “I’m excited to have him. He’s a great player. He’ll make plays for us. We both want to make plays, and we’re going to go out there and do that.”

The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Henry appeared to make his case to serve as a three-down back late last season, when Murray was injured and he posted a playoff franchise record 191 yards from scrimmage in a wildcard victory at Kansas City.

But that performance was sandwiched between a disappointing outing against the Jaguars in the regular-season finale — one Henry described as "soft" — and a 12carry, 28-yard dud in a season ending loss in the divisional playoffs at New England.

The 5-8, 195-pound Lewis had 141 yards from scrimmage in that game, including 79 receiving yards on nine catches.

“There’s always competition, no matter what sport you play, no matter what your spot on the roster is, you’ve always got to compete,” Lewis said. “We’ve been working great together. We work hard together. We compete in the drills we do in practice, and we help each other. We’re both learning a new system for the first time, so just helping each other and trying to grow together.”

Henry praised new coach Mike Vrabel for his high-energy approach, and said offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur has a great scheme and interesting ideas about how to spread the football.

“It’s getting guys open, utilizing guys and letting Marcus (Mariota) do his thing,” Henry said. “It’s a lot of zone scheme, a lot of good blocking. There’s a lot of other teams that run (a similar offense) in the league that are very successful, so I feel like we have the right guys that can do the same thing and make plays.”

Henry and Lewis should complement each other well in the same backfield, with Henry serving as the hulking hammer and Lewis the nimble receiving threat.

“He’s a lot bigger in person than you think he is,” Lewis said, laughing.

They each bring a different skillset, and while Henry is expected to serve as the primary option on early downs, the division of labor is bound to change on a game-by-game basis.

“We’re different backs,” Henry said. “He does great things that I don’t do, and likewise. But at the same time, we’re just here to help the Titans win games and get to the Super Bowl. I’m just happy to have him and excited he’s on our team.”

Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram and Snapchat at TitansBeat.