Where Was Derrick Henry Late in Ravens Loss?

The devastation of the 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 16 is still being felt by Baltimore Ravens fans.

From losing Lamar Jackson to a back injury in the first half, to Mark Andrews' wild pitch at the end of the half, to even Zay Flowers fumbling another game away on the final drive, the Ravens were plagued with bad luck against New England. One decision had every Ravens fan asking the same question: Where is Derrick Henry?

On the final two drives of the game, Henry took exactly zero snaps, which resulted in eight plays of 13 yards, one punt, and one Flowers fumble. After the game, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh tried to explain the situation to a room of reporters, asking the same question as fans.

"You look back on it, I think it's pretty easy to say he should have been there or shouldn't have been in there. But we're rotating those guys throughout the game as two backs. Game winning drive? Do you want Derrick Henry on the field? Sure, I do want him on the field."

John Harbaugh on absence of Derrick Henry at end of the game. “He should’ve been in there.” 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/DqPog4QVZO
— Mark Viviano (@MarkWJZ) December 22, 2025

Ravens committed a major malpractice with Henry on the sidelines

Henry was rolling in the Patriots game, running all over them. He finished the contest with 18 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns, averaging a staggering 7.1 yards per carry.

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The problem was that Henry was the only back with success on the ground throughout the game, as backup Keaton Mitchell had nine carries for 13 yards. It wasn't like any other back on the roster was having any luck running on New England.

One argument could be that with the team in passing downs, they needed Mitchell in the game as the more versatile back, which kind of makes sense on the final drive. The drive before that one when they had a 24-21 lead? Why wasn't Henry out there?

Instead, it was Mitchell with two carries for four yards, Huntley with one scramble for three yards, and three passes from Huntley. When a running back is averaging 7.1 yards per carry, and the team has the lead with a chance to kill the clock, the common-sense move would be to feed that back as much as possible, but Henry was nowhere to be found.

The mistakes made on the field by Andrews and Flowers are entirely on the players, but Henry, not on the field, is all Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Todd Monken. They will be questioned for that moment for a long time.

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