NFL offensive player of year Henry and Saints QB Winston set to miss rest of season
The Tennessee Titans may be without NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry for the rest of the season after tests on Monday checking the severity of an injury to his right foot.
Meanwhile, NFL.com reported that New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston’s season is over after he injured his knee during Sunday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Trevor Siemian stepped in for Winston, who is believed to have torn his ACL and suffered additional damage to his MCL.
“I cried when I saw him coming in,” said Saints head coach Sean Payton after Sunday’s game. “It’s hard.” The injury came after a horse-collar tackle from Winston’s former teammate Devin White. “I hate that this happened to you, man,” White told Winston after the injury. “Because you’re playing good ball and just praying for you.”
Henry had tests on Monday to check the severity of the injury after he finished a 34-31 overtime win in Indianapolis. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said he knows Henry will do everything possible to work himself back to help the Titans (6-2) but would not put a timetable on his return.
“Whenever that is that’s when it’ll be,” Vrabel said. “I know that he’ll be around our team as soon as he can. I know that’s important to him. I know that’ll be important to our team. We will have to move on. We’ll have to move on unfortunately without him here in the short term and not look back.”
The two-time NFL rushing champ went to the bench early in Sunday’s game and took his shoe off before returning. Henry finished with 28 carries for 68 yards and a 2.4-yard average that was his lowest this season. He played 54 of the 73 offensive snaps.
The 2020 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year did not talk to reporters after the game.
Henry leads the NFL with 937 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns. He is the biggest reason why the Titans currently sit atop the AFC as the No 1 seed having won four in a row.
Ryan Tannehill threw three touchdown passes Sunday against the Colts to reach 10 TDs this season compared to Henry, who had his 10 TD runs through the first seven games.
The Titans visit the Los Angeles Rams (7-1) on Sunday night.
Henry became the eighth man in NFL history to run for at least 2,000 yards last season with 2,027 yards on a career-high 378 carries. The 2015 Heisman Trophy winner and two-time Pro Bowl running back had a combined 386 carries in the 2019 season and playoffs.
The Titans are fourth in rushing in the NFL, averaging 147.6 yards per game, helping them rank second in the league in averaging 32 minutes, 49 seconds of possession time per game.