Derrick Henry is 30 years old and has already accomplished more in his NFL career than most players could ever dream of. But anyone who thinks he’s resting on his laurels doesn’t know Derrick Henry.
Henry, who signed with the Ravens this year after eight seasons with the Titans, is turning heads in his first training camp in Baltimore with his hard work. Ravens running backs coach Willie Taggart described a play on which Henry was furious with himself for not catching a pass that was intended for him, and said it’s infectious to see a player demanding so much of himself.
“It’s like the damnedest thing ever. He wants to be perfect on everything. We love it,” Taggart said, via the team’s website. “He’ll eventually come around, but probably the first two plays after a mistake, he’s going to be ticked off.”
Henry’s personal trainer, Melvin Sanders, works with several professional athletes but says no one works as hard as Henry.
“He’s the most consistent. He just doesn’t skip,” Sanders said. “It’s relentless pursuit of perfection. He just wants to be great. He wants to be the best.”
Running backs have almost always declined by age 30, but Sanders insists that Henry is better physically right now than he’s ever been.
“I think he’s better right now than he was in year four and five,” Sanders said. “He’s a lot stronger now. He’s a lot more mobile. He’s able to move better. His lateral quickness is better. He’s just a stronger athlete now.”
Henry averaged a career-low 4.17 yards per carry last season, which may indicate that some wear and tear is slowing him down, but he’s going to put in as much effort as humanly possible to be the player he was at the height of his career. That’s the player the Ravens hope they signed.