The King is Back to Take his Throne
The Tennessee Titans announced on Friday that Derrick Henry will be activated for the AFC divisional playoff matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday. Henry is not only expected to be available Saturday, but he is expected to start when the offense takes the field.
The Alabama alumnus has not played in a game since he suffered a Jones fracture on Halloween against the Indianapolis Colts.
Despite Henry having missed over half of the regular season he still amassed some impressive rushing totals. Henry led the NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in 2019 and 2020 and may have claimed the top spot in those categories for the third year in a row had he stayed healthy.
It has been largely a mix and match at the running back position for the Titans since they lost Henry to injury. The three main backs for Tennessee down the stretch have been D'Onta Foreman, Jeremy McNichols and Dontrell Hilliard. The Titans even experimented with Adrian Peterson for a few games before releasing him. The backs were able to collect 135.9 yards on the ground per game with an average of 4.1 per carry.
"Guys stepped in. Guys who were hungry did a great job running the ball," said Henry in a press conference on Wednesday.
When Derrick Henry touches the turf at Nissan Field on Saturday in Nashville, he will bring nearly 6,800 yards of experience with him and an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
The Bengals will look to continue its first run in the playoffs in 31 years. With Henry in tow, the Titans will look to secure its first home playoff win since an overtime victory over the Steelers in 2003.
Kickoff is set for Saturday at 3:30 CST on CBS.