Derrick Henry's season in jeopardy after foot injury in Tennessee Titans' win over Indianapolis Colts
The Tennessee Titans might have gotten a big overtime victory Sunday over the Indianapolis Colts, but it apparently came with a steep cost.
Derrick Henry, the Titans' bulldozing running back and fulcrum of the offense, is out indefinitely and could be done for the season after suffering a foot injury in the 34-31 victory.
In his news conference Monday, Titans coach Mike Vrabel said Henry is getting surgery to repair the injury but would not put a timeline on the running back's return.
"As it relates to injuries … People, in general, just kind of come back from something maybe a little quicker or something takes a little longer," Vrabel said. "So, I know that if anybody can, I guess, come back, it would be Derrick. But I'm not going to put any expectations on any sort of timeline."
Henry broke the fifth metatarsal in his foot, according to NFL on FOX Insider Jay Glazer. The fifth metatarsal is located on the outside, or pinky toe side, of the foot.
Also known as a Jones fracture, Henry's injury and subsequent surgery leave his regular season –– and potentially the playoffs –– very much in doubt, according to FOX Sports Injury & Performance Analyst Dr. Matt Provencher.
Henry was spotted heading to the sidelines early against the Colts and took the cleat off of his right foot, but wound up returning and finishing out the game.
He carried the ball 28 times for 68 yards, averaging just 2.4 yards per carry — his lowest average of the season.
The league's reigning back-to-back rushing champion leads the league again this season with 937 rushing yards. He also ranks No. 1 in carries the past two seasons, and his 219 carries this season put him on a historic pace, well ahead of Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon (137 carries) for second place in that department.
With 10 rushing touchdowns already this season, Henry is also atop that leaderboard, ahead of Arizona Cardinals RB James Conner in second.
For the Titans (6-2), potentially replacing Henry, who is responsible for 36.2% of the yards the Titans have gained this season, is no small feat. Henry's main backup, Jeremy McNichols, has just seven carries for 38 yards this season and 56 carries for 246 yards in his five-year career.
At 5-foot-9, 205 pounds — compared to 6-foot-3, 247 pounds for Henry — McNichols is primarily a pass-catcher out of the backfield, with 21 catches for 203 so far this season.
In fact, quarterback Ryan Tannehill is Tennessee's second-leading rusher, with 23 carries for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Aside from Henry, Tannehill and McNichols, no Titans player has more than two rushing attempts this year.
That would explain why the Titans are adding longtime veteran running back Adrian Peterson.
A three-time rushing champion, Peterson started 10 games for the Detroit Lions in 2020, but has cracked the 1000-yard rushing mark just once — in 2018 with the Washington Football Team — since his most recent All-Pro season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2015.
While Peterson costs nothing as a free agent, the Titans could also try to swing a trade ahead of Tuesday's deadline to further bolster the backfield.
Replacing an MVP candidate in Henry, no matter how long he is out, will be a near-impossible ask for whoever is brought in to fill his shoes in the league's fourth-ranked rushing attack.
As Shannon Sharpe put it on Monday's episode of "Undisputed," while the Titans should be able to win the AFC South without Henry, the train could come to a screeching halt come playoff time.
"They're gonna win the division, but I don't believe they can go very far without ‘King Henry,’" Sharpe said.
This is a developing story.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
