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Jaguars 1st-Round Pick CJ Henderson Dazzles, Dominates and Seals the Win in His NFL Debut

The Jacksonville Jaguars first round pick corner CJ Henderson started in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts. He dazzled, dominated and helped seal the win for the Jaguars.
Kassidy Hill|
Jaguars 1st-Round Pick CJ Henderson Dazzles, Dominates and Seals the Win in His NFL Debut
Jaguars 1st-Round Pick CJ Henderson Dazzles, Dominates and Seals the Win in His NFL Debut

CJ Henderson was waiting.

He’d spent years waiting to make it to the NFL, months waiting through a pandemic and holding onto hope that there would be games, and now…now he was waiting on Philip Rivers.

The 17-year veteran quarterback Rivers—who entered the league when Henderson was four years old—had the Indianapolis Colts up 7-0 over the Jacksonville Jaguars on their first drive of the 2nd quarter.

On the first play, Rivers found T.Y. Hilton for a 20-yard gain off of play-action. Hilton was on an island, with Henderson swimming to keep up. The next play, the rookie found his footing, breaking up a short pass intended for Hilton.

Then, it was 3rd and 10, from the Colts own 35-yard line. Rivers dropped back and looked right. He had Hilton on the sideline 14-yards away. Eyes locked there, he threw a body level shot toward the four-time Pro Bowl receiver.

CJ Henderson had been on Hilton’s hip, but turned back toward Rivers. He waited a step off, baiting Rivers into the throw. He read the ball the entire way and knew what was about to happen. It was the moment he’d been waiting for his entire life; and he was scared to death.

“I was scared,” Henderson told reporters after the game, smiling about the moment.

“I was scared as hell, thought I was gonna drop it.”

And in retrospect, maybe scared is the wrong word.

“I was like, I say excited, like ‘wow this too good to be true,’ that type,” clarifies the Jags No. 9 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

"It wasn’t scared, like nervous.”

Henderson, who had a pick-6 in his first college game back in 2017, picking off Michigan’s Wilton Speight, returned the ball 22 yards into Colts territory. He thought he was going to house this one as well.

“I'm gonna tell Josh and them they gotta block next time,” laughed Henderson, referencing Josh Allen and the front seven.

One member of that front seven, middle linebacker Joe Schobert, did still want the moment to be special for the rookie.

“CJ’s (interception) was huge, obviously, in the first half…he got his first pick. He just threw the ball on the ground, so I had to go run back and grab it because I had to make sure he got that for his keepsake – I didn’t want the Colts to steal it from him.”

Even if Henderson didn’t score, the Jaguars still did, notching seven points off the turnover as Gardner Minshew, DJ Chark and the offense made quick work of the good field position, to tie the score at 7-7.

The day was just beginning for the first-round pick brought in to replace Jalen Ramsey. Henderson finished with five tackles, the interception and three passes defended, including one in the endzone on Hilton. It forced the Colts to settle for a field goal, which was doinked off the left upright. But no pass breakup was more important than the last one.

Down 27-20, Rivers and the Colts were driving. There was 0:49 on the clock and quick throws combined with an untimely Jaguars penalty had Indianapolis at the Jaguars 26-yard line. Henderson had left the field with 9:00 to go and entered the medical tent for concussion protocol. He spent the next seven minutes sheltered away from the game.

Right before the final 2:00 mark, Henderson jogged back out, put on his helmet and watched as Rivers targeted rookie Chris Claybrooks twice in a row for 12 total yards. As soon as the two-minute warning was called, Henderson took back over. He made a quick tackle to keep a gain short of the chains.

Two plays later, it was 4th-and-5 from the Jags 26-yard line with 0:49 to go and the Colts needed a touchdown and point after to tie. Once again, Henderson was on the Colts No. 1 receiver, Hilton. He knew that meant in essence, the game was in his hands.

“I was expecting the ball to come to me. It was probably like a one-high defense, so I was against T.Y., the best receiver so I expected the ball to come to me.”

It did.

Henderson initially overran Hilton. The nine-year receiver hitched the route to come back for the ball. It should have fooled a rookie corner. Initially, Hilton thought it did. But Henderson’s quick hips flashed as he turned back and stuck his hand into the pass. He knocked it away and the game was, for all intents and purposes, won for the Jaguars, 27-20.

Hilton wanted to take the blame and deferred any credit to Henderson, telling reporters after the game, “he got nothing on both of them. That was just me," Hilton said.

"I lost the game. Two drops. Never should’ve happened.”

But credit where it’s due, Henderson stayed on the top receiver all day and outplayed him more often than not. In the reduced capacity stands sat a fan in a No. 20 Jaguars jersey. The name had been changed to say “Ramsey Who?” And by the game's end, the sentiment was felt throughout the stadium.

"We’ve seen that from CJ all along," Marrone told reporters after the win.

"He’s a guy that really has great ability and has the ability to make plays and really be a difference-maker. There’s probably some technique stuff [we’ll work on]. That’s what’s great about CJ, he constantly wants to learn and he constantly wants to be a better football player and we think he’s a heck of a player.

The Jaguar rookies as a whole put on a show. Undrafted free agent James Robinson broke the NFL record for yards by an undrafted free agent in Week 1 with 62 yards on 16 carries. Second-round receiver Laviska Shenault finished with three receptions and a touchdown on 37 yards. And Henderson saved the day in more ways than one.

“I think we, as a whole, we all wanted the same goal, just have a lot of energy and not have that many mistakes. Coming in as a rookie, a lot of people think you have a lot of mistakes, but I think all the rookies that played today was great.”

Added Henderson of the rookie class debut, “It was a breakout day, I think all the guys just performed, you know, how we expected to. You know, we believe in each other and that's all that matters here.”

For Henderson, he also believes this is just the beginning. It was as near a stellar performance as one could hope in their NFL debut, much less their starting NFL debut. But it wasn’t enough for the rookie who has been waiting for the opportunity his whole life.

“I imagine better, but you know I'm thankful for it. Now I’m ready to get back to work on Monday.” 

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Kassidy Hill
KASSIDY HILL

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