Darrell Henderson Jr. still playing through rib injury but feels 'pretty good'

[theramswire.usatoday.com]
Darrell Henderson Jr. still playing through rib injury but feels 'pretty good'

Cameron DaSilva
October 14, 2021 9:11 am PT
Darrell Henderson Jr. has dealt with injuries in each of his three NFL seasons so far, including this year. He suffered a rib injury in Week 2 against the Colts and missed the following game against the Buccaneers, but he returned in Week 4 and has played well in each of the last two games.


Henderson wasn’t listed on Wednesday’s injury report, which is a good sign, but he’s not fully recovered just yet. He’s still playing through the injury and says it’ll clear up at some point, but for now he’ll continue battling through it.

“I mean, I don’t really want to talk about that part of it, but I feel pretty good,” he said. “I’m just taking it a day at a time, playing through it. So it’ll eventually get there, but right now I’m going to keep fighting through it.”

Henderson put together a strong performance against the Seahawks, rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. He added a 17-yard reception, making key plays for the offense down the stretch.

For as well as he played, Henderson isn’t going to settle for an 82-yard rushing performance, even if he was battling through injury.

“You can’t be satisfied with that,” he said. “You’ve got to keep working and come out each and every day wanting to be better, so I’m not going to settle for that.”

The Rams have used Sony Michel to spell Henderson and give him a break during games, which has worked well. Sean McVay is still figuring out the best way to utilize both players, but for the most part, they’ve each been able to do everything on the field – from running between the tackles to catching passes.

“It’s hard to stop either one of us when we’re fresh, so the main plan is to keep everybody fresh and when we’re fresh, we’re going to show everybody what we’re capable of doing,” Henderson added. “Now we’ve just got to be consistent and be able to bring it every week.”

Henderson should be in line for another game with 15-plus touches against the Giants this weekend, with the possibility of even more work against an inferior opponent. Michel will have a role, too, but the backfield still belongs to Henderson.