Steely McBeam
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- Mar 20, 2019
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After the Texans beat the Buccaneers on Saturday, the Titans downgraded running back Derrick Henry to questionable because of a hamstring injury.
They would leave him on the inactive list for Sunday’s game against the Saints and the timing of those decisions wasn’t a coincidence. The Texans clinched the AFC South with the win, which meant that the Titans were only fighting for a Wild Card berth
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said after Sunday’s loss that the Texans win was a factor in sitting Henry, because they would need a win in Week 17 and a Steelers loss in the final two games to make the playoffs whether they beat the Saints or not. He also said he hopes that the plan comes together next weekend.
“I think that, first of all, nobody respects the effort that Derrick puts forward for this team [more than me], not only in the conditioning to get his body right, to be a runner that can withstand the pounding of an NFL season,” Vrabel said. “I fully understand what that toll and rigor is. You can only hope that it would help, and that’s why we made the decision that we made.”
It will be a while before the results of that decision come to light, but the Titans got the Steelers loss they needed and no one outside of Henry’s fantasy football owners will lament their Week 16 call if the Titans are playing in January.