One of the more perplexing things from the Tennessee Titans’ Week 1 loss to the New Orleans Saints was the way the team used running back Derrick Henry.
Henry was the catalyst of the Titans’ offense in the first half. His 18-yard run aided in one scoring drive, and he ripped off a 46-yard reception on a well-blocked screen that helped Tennessee to three more points.
Buy Titans TicketsIt looked like Henry was going to have a monster day after finishing the first half with 97 total yards, including 51 yards on 10 carries. However, he was non-existent in the second half, and to no fault of his own.
For whatever reason, Henry saw just five carries in the final two quarters, and making that more odd is the fact that the game was close throughout. Adding to that, Tennessee opted for rookie running back Tyjae Spears on several early downs instead of the man who was literally built for them.
When it was all said and done, Henry was out-snapped by Spears, 34-30.
#Titans' Derrick Henry played 30 snaps in New Orleans.
Per @pfref, he's played fewer snaps in only two games over the last three seasons:
Nov. 8, 2020, 29 snaps in a 24-17 win vs. CHI
Sept. 19, 2022, 26 snaps in a 41-7 loss at BUF— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) September 11, 2023
When asked about his usage after the game, Henry said all the right things and didn’t throw offensive coordinator Tim Kelly under the bus, as you’d expect from a team leader like The King.
“No, not at all,” Henry said when asked if he thought his usage was strange, per Paul Kuharsky. “We’ve got some playmakers, guys who are good with the ball when it’s in their hands… Excited to see those guys get in and make some plays. We’re a team, it’s going to take all of us.”
Head coach Mike Vrabel revealed that there were more run plays drawn up for Henry but the Titans had to check out of them. He did, however, note that the offense has to find ways to get Henry more involved.
“Tried to run a few and they weren’t overly successful,” Vrabel said, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “Get into some longer-yardage situations, had some (runs) called that gave us a look that we needed to check out of. Derrick’s going to help us and we’ve got to find ways to keep running the football, be a little better when we throw it and find a way to get him screened today like we did.”
Even if the space in the run game was hard to come by, the Titans needed to find a way to get Henry the ball in space more through the passing game.
Hopefully that, along with the snaps Henry gets as compared to Spears, gets corrected in Week 2.
