Assistant Coaches Revel in Henry's 2,000-Yard Season

Derrick Henry has made it clear throughout this season that his teammates around him on offense make his job the easy one.

En route to a pair of historical accomplishments, a second consecutive rushing title and a 2,000-yard season, the Tennessee Titans running back consistently lauded their efforts. To Henry, those have been team accomplishments, not personal ones.

His teammates have already talked about how much pride they take in helping Henry succeed. On Tuesday, various members of the Titans’ coaching staff did the same.

Running backs coach Tony Dews said it’s possible that he won’t truly understand or appreciate Henry’s season until further down the road, but that has not stopped him from recognizing how special it has been. Winning the AFC South title, he said, has made it even more enjoyable.

“Everyone gets to share that in this moment,” Dews said. “Everyone on this team at some point of their career, or when they’re done, will be able to say they took part of being on a team with A.J. [Brown] going over 1,000 yards receiving, Ryan [Tannehill’s] accomplishments throwing the ball, Jonnu [Smith] leading tight ends in touchdown catches, to Derrick rushing for 2,000 yards.

“... I am extremely excited for Derrick, the offensive line and the guys on offense that have all taken part in this.”

The Titans’ line has cleared Henry’s path to becoming the 10th back-to-back rushing champion since 1953 and the eighth 2,000-yard rusher in league history.

“It’s truly something I will never forget,” offensive line coach Keith Carter said of Henry’s season. “I don’t think these players will ever forget it. It’s such a testament to Derrick, but also how everybody roots for him and plays their butt off for him to block for him. They want him to succeed. I think that’s a really good achievement for everybody that was involved, which was the whole offense and the whole team.”

A lot of what Henry has accomplished has been done without three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 6. Ty Sambrailo, Lewan’s initial replacement, suffered a season-ending injury of his own in Week 11. David Quessenberry filled Sambrailo’s void and has been the starting left tackle ever since.

Center Ben Jones, left guard Rodger Saffold and right tackle Dennis Kelly have played through injuries this season.

“I can’t say enough about the group in general,” Carter said. “It’s a bunch of great dudes that have a common goal, and that’s what makes coaching fun. You get a bunch of guys that like being together and like coming to work and share common interests in goals, it makes all the hard work and sacrifice worth it.

“It’s really cool for those guys to do it the way they did it.”

But it wasn’t just the offensive line that plowed Henry’s path to history this season. The wide receivers and tight ends played just as big of a part.

Dews entered the coaching ranks in 1998 and at three of his many collegiate stops, he coached wide receivers, most recently at the University of Arizona (2012-2016). He said he has a special place in his heart for wide receivers blocking.

“I coached receivers for so long that a lot of times, they’re left out of when you’re talking about running,” he said. “But a lot of those long runs happen because the receivers are down field doing such an excellent job blocking.

“Certainly, Corey [Davis], A.J. and those other guys get a lot of recognition for catching the ball, but they also do an outstanding job blocking down the field.”

Todd Downing has been an NFL assistant coach since 2005. He was the tight ends coach for the Minnesota Vikings in 2018 before taking the same role with the Titans in 2019. Downing said that his unit, like the others, takes pride in team success.

“That’s what I think is so unique about the guys we have on offense,” he said. “They are just excited to watch each other succeed. They don’t care who it is that’s producing.”

Thus, it has taken a village for Henry this season. Each part of the Titans’ offense has made it possible.

He has said that himself.

“I'm just happy to be a part of this team, a part of this organization, be teammates with the guys on this team,” Henry said on Sunday. “They're my brothers. Great accomplishment for us collectively, and just glad we were able to finish with a W in the division, be able to keep playing.”