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Countdown to Kickoff: 62 Days

Derrick Henry's future with the Titans is uncertain, but his past already includes more appearances than nearly any other running back the team has drafted.

The countdown to kickoff continues.

The Tennessee Titans will open the 2020 regular season Sept. 14 at Denver. That is 62 days away. So, today we look at one way the number 62 figures into the team’s recent history.

Tuesday’s news that Derrick Henry is unlikely to reach an agreement on a long-term extension with the Tennessee Titans before Wednesday’s deadline raises the issue of how many more games the franchise will get out of the running back.

It also provides an opportunity to look at how many he already has played.

Henry has appeared in 62 regular-season contests (out of a possible 64) during his four seasons with the Titans. It is a significant number in multiple ways.

First, the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner is one of 15 running backs the franchise has selected over the past 21 seasons. Of the other 14, only Chris Johnson, with 95 games played, appeared in more. That group includes a couple others taken in the second round as Henry was, LenDale White in 2006 (58 games) and Bishop Sankey in 2014 (29 games). Chris Brown, a third-round selection in 2003, stuck around for five years but played just 54 contests.

Among all NFL running backs over the past four years, only seven have appeared in more than 62 games and all seven are role players or primarily special teams performers. Of the top 10 rushers during the time Henry has been in the league (he is fourth with 3,833 yards), only two have logged more than 60 games played – Henry and Frank Gore, who also has appeared in 62 and is 10th with 3,307 yards.

The fact that Henry will play the 2020 season on the one-year, non-exclusive franchise tender he signed in April, which will pay him $10.278 million, does not necessarily mean his days with Tennessee are numbered. The team could use the franchise tag on him again next offseason or finally sign him to a long-term extension.

Yes, he could become a free agent and sign elsewhere. Even if that happens, though, Tennessee already has gotten more out of Henry than it did a lot of other running backs.