How the Titans are fixing Derrick Henry's fumbling problem
Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry has been dealing with an incredibly out of character fumbling problem over the last month. Coming into 2022, Henry had never had more than five fumbles in a season. Most seasons, he did not have more than one. But believe it or not, Henry has now fumbled five different […]
Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry has been dealing with an incredibly out of character fumbling problem over the last month.
Coming into 2022, Henry had never had more than five fumbles in a season. Most seasons, he did not have more than one. But believe it or not, Henry has now fumbled five different times in Tennessee's last five games, three of them resulting in turnovers. With how costly those turnovers have been and how important Henry is to Tennessee's offensive game plan and identity, the veteran running back has been working every day to ensure this does not happen in the most important game of the season.
Henry has been working with Titans running backs coach Tony Dews in practice with an emphasis on taking care of the football. Dews likes to implement a drill in practice that simulates how defenders will attempt to use gravity against a ball carrier by pulling the ball out as a player falls to the ground.
Most of Henry's fumbles have come in situations like these where he is fighting for extra yards, hoping to keep a big play alive, and the defender gets a hit on the ball as he is being tackled.
Obviously, Titans coaches will never encourage Henry to give up on a play or go down early as a preventative measure for fumbling. He is too strong and explosive to not take every carry for as long of a journey as possible. Instead, Dews and the coaching staff believe that going back to the fundamental ways of carrying the ball will help ensure it stays secure when running through contact.
"Really it's just a reminder of the fundamentals and techniques of carrying the football, you know in terms of keeping his wrist above the elbow and keeping the point of the ball up," said Dews about what him and Henry have been working on.
"Some fumbles happen, but you always go back to fundamentals and techniques. So really, it's just carrying the ball the proper way, squeezing it, and not putting it in jeopardy when he's running. Then obviously some of it is when you're fighting through tackles and fighting to break tackles, the second and third guy, they're coming in gripping at the ball punching at the ball, so just being cognizant. The next layer of that is pad level. By getting his pads over, now they're hitting the top of your shoulder pads as opposed to having the ball exposed because my body's upright, my pads are high."
On top of the fundamentals, awareness was a big talking point for both Dews and Henry when asked about the bad fumbling habit. Henry said he needs to pay more attention to where hits were coming from late in runs, while Dews is taking it upon himself to be more intentional about giving Henry continual reminders to hold his technique in the middle of the game. That has been lacking recently.
If Henry can protect the football and run with the same efficiency he has in his last three efforts, the game will be simplified for quarterback Josh Dobbs and the Titans' offense will be in good shape. Plays like this will result in big gains and points, and not momentum shifting turnovers.
Perhaps then the Titans can finally get over the hump and find their way into the playoffs with a win and an AFC South division title.
Image via George Walker IV / Tennessean.com-USA TODAY NETWORK
