Ravens’ Derrick Henry focused on wins, not yards
OWINGS MILLS — Ravens running back Derrick Henry is having one of the finest seasons of his nine-year career.
He has run for a league-leading 873 yards through seven games. This means that he is on pace to run for 2,120 yards this season, which would break Eric Dickerson’s 40-year-old record of 2,105 yards for the Rams set in 1984.
There’s a long way to go to eclipse that milestone, and Henry says it’s not on his radar. He’s focused on winning the first Super Bowl of his career.
“I don’t really try to think about that too much,” Henry said. “I just try to focus on doing my job and being better and better every week. I don’t really try to get into the statistics of things. I focus on the team goals.”
Henry’s teammates laud his work effort and how he prepares for the rigors of the NFL. Henry and quarterback Lamar Jackson are the most formidable duo in the NFL right now.
When asked about Henry’s chances to break the single-season rushing record, Jackson replied: “I feel like he has a great chance of achieving that. I think he can do it. I believe he can do it.”
At age 30, Henry hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Only Hall of Famer Walter Payton has more rushing yards over seven games at age 30 or older, running for 875 yards in 1984.
Henry also leads the league with 134 carries. The Ravens want him to be healthy for the final stretch run of the regular season and into the playoffs. The potential return of Keaton Mitchell could take some of the burden off Henry.
Henry has been averaging 19 carries per game. Harbaugh is confident the workload is manageable.
“It’s not 30,” Harbaugh said. “Thirty is kind of a high number. I protected myself on that. I’m happy with it. I’m happy with it because it does mean that we’ve had a lot of carries in the fourth quarter, which means that we have the lead, and that’s what you want. I also feel like over the course of the season, it’s going to be OK if it’s not 19 or 25. When it’s 10 or 12, that’s OK, too.
“Other guys will be getting those carries as well, or hopefully, we’ll be throwing the ball for a bunch of yards, but that’s one thing about Derrick; you’ll never hear him concern himself with that. He wants it – there is no doubt about it – but he wants it because it helps us win, and that’s all he ever talks about.”