Two Titans named to Pro Bowl
There won’t be a Pro Bowl in 2021, at least on a football field. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t Pro Bowl picks.
Titans running back Derrick Henry and receiver A.J. Brown were among those selected Monday night, when the league revealed rosters. Players will let their fingers do the talking for a game they will play virtually on the popular Madden NFL ‘21 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rather than meet in Las Vegas, where the game originally was to be played Jan. 31, the league will hold a virtual event that will include current players, celebrities and former players and will culminate with a game between the best players.
Pro Bowl selections were made by fans, coaches and players.
Henry is on pace to defend the rushing title he won last season and is closing in on 2,000 yards (1,679), a feat accomplished by only seven other players. Brown has 56 catches for 881 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.
Henry ran for 1,540 yards and 15 touchdowns on a league-high 303 carries last season, when he earned his first Pro Bowl selection for a season during which he helped lead the team to the AFC championship game.
He has helped lead them to a 10-4 record so far this season as the Titans aims for their first AFC South title since 2008, the last time they won 10 games during the regular season.
When asked whether he expected to see a lot of Titans players selected for the game that won’t be played in reality, coach Mike Vrabel gave a simple, “No.”
“It wouldn’t matter one bit,” Vrabel said before turning on his sense of humor.
“Who can get the most Twitter (votes). I know sometimes they offer a special where if you vote within the next hour, each retweet counts as double. We’ve got to take advantage off the two-for-one special and try (to) get some more votes.”
As for Henry, though, there’s no doubt he’s deserving.
And being unsatisfied is a big reason why.
“I think just not being happy with the result, always feel like we can be better,” Henry said after Sunday’s victory against the Lions of wanting to continue to improve on offense. “And that’s I think just our focus, how can we improve from this game going into next week and working on that collectively when we’re out there on the field throughout practice throughout the week.”
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes received 342,353 fan votes, tops in the league, in voting that ended Dec. 17. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was second with 335,156. Henry was third with 315,359.