Henry hopes to make dropped passes a thing of the past

After one each of the last two weeks, Titans running back says it's all about focus

Reinhold Matay/USA Today Sports

Derrick Henry has proved that big things can happen when he catches a pass.

The Tennessee Titans running back also has shown that he has some work to do before he can be considered a reliable and consistent option in the passing game.

Henry dropped one pass in each of the last two games. Thus, he has half as many drops as he does receptions through the first three weeks. That makes him the only member of Tennessee’s offense to have multiple passes go through his hands this season (four others have one apiece) and fuels his desire to try and avoid a repeat performance.

“I just have to look the ball in,” Henry said Thursday. “Sometimes I catch the ball and (I am) just ready to get upfield. But I have to secure the catch so it’s just all about mental focus. That’s all I have to do.

“I’m definitely working on that this whole week. So if the opportunity comes again – secure the catch and make something happen.”

Henry’s four catches this season have gone for 89 yards, 10 fewer than he had all of last season and 48 shy of the career-high he set during his rookie season (2016).

Interestingly, he ranks among the NFL’s top 20 in yards-after-the-catch with 98. That means quarterback Marcus Mariota consistently has thrown to him behind the line of scrimmage and all the yards gained – plus some – have come with the ball in Henry’s hands and not in the air. The bulk of that figure came on his 75-yard touchdown reception in the opener against Cleveland.

One bad game, therefore, is not going to discourage the Titans from throwing it to him Sunday at Atlanta, if the situation arises.

“If a guy drops a ball … it’s unfortunate and you don’t want it to happen,” offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said. “But you don’t want to sit there and lose confidence and crush a guy for one thing and act like it’s a catastrophic thing. We believe in those guys that are out there and we’ll keep calling their number.

“Now if it becomes a problem, that’s one thing. I think a lot of times it’s easy to overreact. A guy makes one mistake and it’s like, ‘Ah this will never work again.’ We’re not going to panic.”