Derrick Henry Camp Update — August 23: The Blocking Took the Week's Losses

Derrick Henry took his first team-drill reps against another defense this week and the results tracked the offense around him. In Wednesday's joint practice with the Vikings he was stuffed on a run by Minnesota's front, per Giana Han at The Baltimore Banner, on a day when the whole Baltimore offense managed little against Brian Flores's pressure looks. The one flash came from his blocking, not against it: when Jovaughn Gwyn stepped in at center, he put Vikings rookie tackle Domonique Orange on the turf and sprang Henry for what would have been a big gain, per Tony Lombardi at Russell Street Report, whose two-day account otherwise describes run stuffs and tackles for loss. Henry's own framing was patient — the goal is executing coordinator Declan Doyle's calls, and "the offense is never where it wants to be by this point" of preseason, per Han.

The center detail matters to a running back more than most position battles. Danny Pinter, who started the preseason opener, tore a patellar tendon Wednesday, and per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport, as relayed by Lombardi, his season is over. The interior Henry runs behind now comes down to Gwyn against Ethan Pocic, who is still building back from a December Achilles tear — Gwyn started Saturday's game at center before Pocic took his most extensive action of the summer, per Clifton Brown at the team's site. Henry sat that game with the rest of the veterans; Jonathan Ward started at running back in a 13 to three win where Baltimore averaged 2.6 yards a rush, per Quentin Corpuel's team-site recap. The backfield targets last week's reporting promised him went unmentioned in any account of the joint practices we can cite, so that thread carries over unanswered.

Back in June we previewed Henry as real talent on real volume with 16 touchdowns as the rented part, and the new perimeter-and-passing role was the fresh wrinkle — this was the first week of contact with a defense that game-plans against it, and the early returns went to the defense. What to watch: which center comes out of Saturday's game against Washington running the first unit, and how the backfield behind Henry shakes out when the roster cuts to 53 on Sunday, August 30. We'll check after cut day.

_Data via nflverse._