Mike Vrabel Talks Derrick Henry Usage, Commends Leadership

After the Tennessee Titans' overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, head coach Mike Vrabel fielded a question about how the team is using star running back Derrick Henry.

ESPN's Ed Werder asked whether the number of times they give the ball to Henry was sustainable.

The Titans coach essentially said that it was the team's only option.

While Vrabel was quick to say there wasn't much else they could do, Henry had only 17 carries in the 20-17 loss to the Chiefs. That's something of a cakewalk compared to the busy back-to-back 30+ carry games he had against the Texans and Colts the two previous weeks.

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of Titans QB Malik Willis or the team's receivers. Willis connected on just 5 of 16 attempts on Sunday.

The Titans didn't really even have the chance to give Henry more carries because their defense was on the field for a huge chunk of the game. The Titans defense was onfield for over 41 minutes yesterday.

So it should come as no surprise that Henry — one of the team's captains — would want to personally thank the defense for keeping them in the game.

The next day, Vrable was asked about this prime example of how to be a great leader. He spoke highly of Henry and what he has done for the team.

"He wants to win he puts a lot into it," Vrabel said "Derrick is always consistent with our message and what we want to do each and every week.

"He's a great teammate, and he knows what we need to do to win, and that's to stick together and play complimentary football, support one another figure out ways to win."

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.