NASHVILLE – Derrick Henry's 2021 season had a little bit of everything.
The start was vintage Henry, as the Titans running back raced for an NFL-best 937 yards and 10 touchdowns in the first eight games.
Henry showed another level of toughness in Week 8, when he played through a broken foot during a 28-carry game against the Colts.
Henry then had to show extreme patience, as he began a long recovery and rehabilitation process that culminated with him returning for the team's playoff game roughly 2 ½ months after the injury.
At the end, Henry was left disappointed alongside his other teammates after Saturday's season ending playoff loss to the Bengals.
"This one," Henry said after the game, "hurts bad."
Henry, who captured the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year award in 2020, said he'll remember the 2021 season for the ups and downs as well.
"I am appreciative of every journey every year," Henry said. "(It was) definitely a tough year, definitely different for me, and was happy to just to be able to have the chance to get back and come up and contribute. I missed being with the team. You know, I missed playing ball. For me to have the opportunity to get back, just thankful for our surgeon, thankful for our whole training staff, thankful for the people I work with outside the facility to help me get back. God is good and it's just truly a blessing to have this opportunity."
At the end of his sixth NFL season, Henry said he plans to spend a good part of his offseason training on Dallas, like years past.
He'll use the time to refuel, and he plans to come back hungry again in 2022.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel said on Monday he expects Henry to keep rolling again next year.
"I am sure Derrick will work extremely hard to get himself ready, like he does every offseason," Vrabel said of Henry. "I know he is fully healed. I know he will have a great offseason. We will try to use him to win football games."
