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Henry shrugs off impending return to Lucas Oil Stadium




Derrick Henry, shown here in last Sunday's win over the Las Vegas Raiders, has no qualms about returning to Lucas Oil Stadium this week, the site of his foot injury last year.Terry McCormick / Main Street Nashville

Derrick Henry, shown here in last Sunday’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders, has no qualms about returning to Lucas Oil Stadium this week, the site of his foot injury last year.Terry McCormick / Main Street Nashville

Derrick Henry takes no thought in returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak.

On Henry’s last visit to Lucas Oil Stadium on Halloween in 2021, he suffered a broken fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot that caused him to need surgery and miss the remainder of the regular season.

So will Henry clear a mental hurdle by going back to Lucas Oil Stadium to face the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday in a key AFC South matchup? Hardly. Henry’s foot was not the topic of conversation he wanted to address in his weekly media session on Thursday.

“My foot’s fine, so no, I’m good,” Henry told reporters.

The Titans’ star running back was then asked a follow-up question about if he recalled how he felt after suffering the injury last year.

Henry’s answer, albeit with a smile: “One foot felt different than the other, and I had to figure out what was going on.”

For the 1-2 Titans to continue their recent dominance of the 1-1-1 Colts, they will likely need Henry and the running game to have good performances. Indy’s run defense is ranked third in the NFL currently, and the Titans rushing offense ranks just 21st overall at 94 yards per game.

Henry and the run game showed signs of snapping out of that funk last Sunday against the Raiders in posting the season’s first win. Henry had 85 yards rushing and also added 58 yards receiving on five catches. As part of that equation, Henry had a 24-yard run to the 1, setting up a first-half Ryan Tannehill quarterback sneak for a touchdown. Henry said he believes the big plays will come for the Titans’ running attack if they continue to work on details.

“As long as we stick with it and do the things we need to do in order to have those big plays, I think it will eventually come. But you’ve got to take care of the little things and are doing what you need to do to have those big plays,” Henry said.

The Titans using Henry more in the passing game also provided a seldom-seen element to the offense that proved useful Sunday and could be going forward as well, as Tennessee attempts to settle down an offensive line that now has new starters at left tackle, left guard and right guard from a year ago.

“I like the ball in my hands any way I can get it — catching it or running it. So it doesn’t matter to me,” Henry said.

Work to do

Caleb Farley, who only played one snap last week against the Raiders, will have to earn more playing time by performing well in the classroom and on the practice field, according to defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. Farley lost time to Terrance Mitchell, who was signed four days before the Titans played against Las Vegas.

“He’s just got to work. It’s every day trying to improve,” Bowen said. “That’s the message for all 53 guys that are on our active roster and the other 16 on the practice squad. We’re out here every day to improve, to become a better player. … Just put your head down and work. I think he’s handled it well. I think he’s accepted the challenge. It’s not a whole lot different than Elijah Molden last year. He had some early struggles but came back and had a good year for us.”

As for going with Mitchell, Bowen said, “We made the decision to go with Mitch last week. A lot of things go into that decision, but we made a decision to go with Mitch.”

Bowen said players have practice work that needs to be put in and translate to the game.

“They’ve got multiple days throughout the week to get out here and work, to be locked in in meetings, to be locked in in walk-through and jog-through. Take advantage of their speed reps, their show team reps, but they’ve got a lot of opportunity throughout the week that hopefully that thing can turn quickly for these guys.”

Punt return battle

Special teams coach Craig Aukerman said that Kyle Philips, who had two muffed punts in the first two games before missing last week with a shoulder injury, might not get the return job back when he is healthy again. Robert Woods handled the punt return chores, prompting Aukerman to say, “We were really happy with Robert going back there.”

Woods might keep the job for now going forward.

“I think that’s going to be a day-by-day, week-by-week basis of whether we want Robert back there or if Kyle can go back there and do that. We’ve obviously got to continue to work with Kyle and try to get him better on his catch mechanics. That’s going to be a day-by-day thing,” Aukerman said.

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