In just one year, Derrick Henry has not only become a key piece of the Baltimore Ravens’ offense, but a standout in the locker room as well.
Henry may be a bit quieter than some other stars, but his passion is second to none. He’s constantly working to be the best version of himself, and combined with unwavering support of his teammates, it’s easy to see why he’s so beloved in the locker room.
That’s especially true of those working most closely with him, his fellow running backs. Justice Hill, Keaton Mitchell and the other Ravens backs are all pretty young, so having arguably one of the best backs of the past decade to learn from is very useful.
With Henry signing a two-year extension last week, he’ll continue to lead the running back room with pride for at least a while longer.
“Yes, they just told me congratulations, which I really appreciated,” Henry told reporters. “We have so much fun in that room, and we all are so competitive. All we want to do is make each other better. They are like brothers to me. We always try to help each other get better [in] any aspect that we can.”
“‘Coach Tag’ [assistant head coach and running backs coach Willie Taggart] makes sure that we are on our details, [that] we’re doing what we need to do, getting the best out of us when we’re on the field and letting it translate from the position meetings to the field, so we can be at our best, and that’s all we want for each other.”
While the younger backs may not be Hall-of-Fame-caliber players like Henry, if there’s anything he can do to help them along, he’ll absolutely do it.
“You take a guy like Derrick who’s played at a high level his entire career, and to come in, and the way he practices, the way he takes meetings and for those younger guys to see that, I mean, it sets an example for them,” Taggart said. “They’re all young. They all want to have a career like Derrick’s, and to see that he’s this deep into his career, and he’s still taking it as if he was a rookie – it has changed our room dramatically.”
“Those guys come in, and they want to be on top of their game. They don’t want make a mistake. They don’t want to tick Derrick off, but more importantly, they want to play at a level, at a standard, that Derrick has set from the beginning.”
