Derrick Henry’s departure didn’t cause everything that followed, but as the Titans prepare to face him for the first time, they’re still searching for the leadership, standards and franchise-changing force he represented
By PAUL KUHARSKY
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Derrick Henry struggled his way into the league, but once he found his footing, he defined the team that drafted him.
As the Titans prepare to face him for the first time as a member of the Baltimore Ravens, I’ve been pondering his departure and the state of his original franchise.
And while there are certainly other factors, we can look at him as the sun in the center of the solar system of what’s wrong here.
I’m not saying they should have kept him or he should have stayed. (I know what he said. It’s perfect spin. If the Titans set things in motion for his departure, they did him a tremendous favor. It sure seemed mutual at the time.)
His career is better off for being in Baltimore, where he’s enhanced his Hall of Fame trajectory and been part of way more wins.
There’s something missing in Music City since Henry left and Mike Vrabel was fired after the 2023 season. The team is 6-31.
So yeah, there is a laundry list of problems.
But so often there is just this feeling, the intangible “it,” that’s absent.
