Tennessee Titans make decision on Derrick Henry return

The Tennessee Titans have made a decision on the return timeline for star running back Derrick Henry against the Houston Texas this week. The Titans will not activate Henry for Sunday’s game, but are fully anticipating his return for their first playoff game.

Derrick Henry’s return delayed

“The Titans didn’t activate star running back Derrick Henry today and he’s out tomorrow,” explained NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. “But this was a good week for Henry, who should be back for the playoffs.”

Henry was designated to return from injured reserve this week, the first step in the process to activate him for the playoffs. The original return timeline for Henry was 6-10 weeks after he fractured his foot in Week 8 of the season. With his seemingly imminent return to the roster, it appears that he will be healthy at the perfect time for the Titans.

The Titans don’t play a particularly hard matchup this week against the Texans, but the game is an important one for Tennessee. A win would clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs and a bye week in the first round. The extra break would help most teams, but with Henry attempting a return it could mean a full two weeks of preparation.

Prior to his injury, Henry was having a strong season for the Titans. He rushed for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns on 219 carries. In his last game appearance against the Colts when he injured his foot, Henry recorded 28 carries for 68 yards.

In 2020, Henry earned the AP’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year after rushing 378 times for 2,027 yards and 17 touchdowns. Henry became just the eighth player in NFL history to hit the 2,000-yard mark in 2020.

The Titans are currently 11-5 overall and coming off a dominant 34-3 win over the Miami Dolphins – a victory that clinched the AFC South and earned them in the AFC’s No. 1 spot. Tennessee will conclude its regular season on Sunday on the road against Houston.

While Tennessee will look to ramp up Henry’s activity as he returns, it will be at least another game without the All-Pro for now.