ExtremeRavens Posted September 23 Posted September 23 Three games, three fumbles for Ravens star running back Derrick Henry. Just like when he put the ball on the ground late in Baltimore’s season-opening defeat against the host Buffalo Bills, his latest mistake came at a crucial moment in the Ravens’ 38-30 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night. With Baltimore trailing 28-24 in the fourth quarter, Henry was stripped from behind by Lions star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who punched the ball free. Cornerback D.J. Reed recovered the fumble at the Ravens’ 16-yard line, and although Baltimore’s defense forced Detroit to lose 11 yards and settle for a 45-yard field goal, the play swung momentum back in the Lions’ favor. The Ravens would go three-and-out on their next possession, and Detroit iced the game with a fourth-and-2 completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown and a 31-yard touchdown run by David Montgomery. “It’s not a good feeling,” Henry said after the game. “I apologize to Flock Nation, and I just want to keep working and get this fixed.” Henry’s sloppy start is shocking for one of the most sure-handed running backs in league history. The 31-year-old fumbled three times in 17 games last year as he rushed for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns on 325 carries in his first season in Baltimore. He didn’t fumble once in 17 games with the Tennessee Titans in 2023. Entering this season, Henry had fumbled just 20 times on 2,529 career touches (carries and receptions), a rate of 0.79%. Through three games this year, he’s coughed the ball up three times on just 43 touches, a rate of 7%. Henry was visibly upset on the sideline after his fumble, slamming his helmet down in frustration, sprawling on the bench and putting two hands on his head in disbelief. He spoke to Ravens coach John Harbaugh on the sideline as he came off the field. “I was talking to everybody, trying to figure out what they saw or if I had the ball loose,” Henry said. “[The defender] just retraced and hammered at the ball, and it came loose. It’s the guy you don’t see, so I just have to be better and go back to work.” After the game, Hutchinson said that he’d never got a clean punch out on a ball carrier before but “threw the biggest hook I could.” Harbaugh called the play “a little bit of the perfect storm.” “That was kind of a blind shot there. I thought he had the ball in good position,” Harbaugh said. While Henry apologized to his teammates, coaches and “Flock Nation,” many of the Ravens came to his defense. That includes tight end Mark Andrews, who issued his own apology on Instagram after losing a fumble and dropping the would-be game-tying 2-point conversion in last season’s divisional round loss to the Bills. “We know the type of guy that [Henry] is, and there’s no one harder on himself than Derrick is,” Andrews said. “We’ll get right. These are the types of things that we’ll be better at, and he’s the best of the best, so I have complete trust in him.” Added quarterback Lamar Jackson: “[We have to just] let it go.” While Henry vowed to watch film and keep trying to fix a problem that he’s rarely had to deal with during a Hall of Fame-caliber career, he acknowledged feeling a little defeated. “I’m my worst critic, so I’m not going to try to beat myself up too much, but it’s hard not to when it’s consecutive and consistent [instances] of me doing the same thing,” he said. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor C.J. Doon at cdoon@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/CJDoon. Ravens running back Derrick Henry runs fumble drills before Monday night's game against the Lions. Henry, despite the drills, lost a key fumble in the fourth quarter, his third fumble of the year. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) View the full article Quote
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