HENRY MANAGES HEAVY WORKLOAD
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry has a simple test for how sore he is after plowing through and over NFL defenders.
Being able to pick up his daughter Valentina each morning.
“That is my main thing,” Henry said. “You are sore all over, especially in our position because you take so many hits, but it is just about the recovery process and getting your body back under you to come out here and do it again.”
Workload questions just keep coming for the 2020 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year and two-time Pro Bowl running back. Henry not only leads the NFL in rushing with 640 yards this season, he also has 142 carries for the Titans (3-2).
That’s an average of 28.4 rushes per game, not counting the occasional reception or 2-point conversion. Henry is on a pace for 482 carries this season. That would easily top the current record of 416 by Larry Johnson in 2006 with the Kansas City Chiefs.
For the Titans, that’s just how this offense works right now. And the 6-foot-3, 247pound Henry knows his role as a ball-carrying battering ram.
“We just have to try to be as smart as we can with recovery and how it is going in the game and how he feels,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “There is a fine line there in knowing what he needs and the impact he has throughout the course of the game.”
The Buffalo Bills (4-1) get
the next chance tonight to tackle Henry, with the NFL’s third-best run defense allowing only 78.4 yards per game. Henry is averaging 128 yards a game with 58 yards in the opener the only time he’s finished with fewer than 113.
Bills coach Sean McDermott, who had to defend Patrick Mahomes with the Chiefs last week, called Henry one of, if not the best running back in the NFL, and a very tough guy to bring down. This time Buffalo has defensive tackle Star Lotulelei available after the lineman missed last season.
“He’s good outside. He’s good inside the tackles. He’s fast and he pulls away from DBs when he has the ball in his hands,” McDermott said. “So yeah, it’s a full plan, if you will, in making sure we understand not only how he runs, but also how to get him down.”
The opener also was the only game this season when Henry had less than 28 rushes.
“Derrick takes a lot of shots,” Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown said.
“Some of the shots look tough, and he keeps going. He gets stronger as the game goes on.”