Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots finally found success with their rushing attack against the Tennessee Titans rushing for a season-high 175 yards. But, that did not come behind a breakout performance by rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson.
Instead, Henderson played a season-low nine snaps on Sunday and carried the ball just twice for five yards.
“Just kind of how it played out,” head coach Mike Vrabel explained Monday morning. “I thought Rhamondre was running well and had some good protections, and TreVeyon is going to be a large part of what we do. I just think that the way that the game started and the success that we had, that’s kind of where it was this week.”
Stevenson led the way playing 49 offensive snaps (75 percent) and found room to run piling up 88 yards on 18 carries. The veteran back also continued to be reliable in pass protection as he has rewarded Vrabel’s support to stick with him after losing three fumbles earlier this season.
“I didn’t want to jerk the wheel, but also, there was a lot of conversations about what our ball carriers and our receivers and everybody that has the football, how they have to take care of it, or that we have to make some other decisions,” Vrabel said on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show.
“You look at last week, at the end of the game. He steps up, he blocks the inside linebacker. Yesterday, he’s blocking in protection, he’s up in the A-gap. He goes out, scans out to the nickel, and we’re able to get a big third down pass off. So he does a lot of things without the football, and then when he does have the football, when he takes care of it, and he’s decisive, he’s been good.”
While Vrabel reiterated that Henderson will continue to have a role in the backfield, it has been a struggle for the Patriots’ second-round pick to begin his rookie season.
After a promising preseason and training camp, the back has managed just 153 yards on 43 carries (3.6 YPA) and ranks near the bottom of the league with -1.3 rushing yards over expected per carry. The game has appeared to be moving quickly for the 22-year old at times.
Still, Patriots coaches in addition to Vrabel believe the big plays will come for the speedster.
“He’s progressing. He’s getting better each day, each week. It’s not a learning curve, because he understands exactly what he’s doing,” running backs coach Tony Dews said last week. “It’ll come. We all want the explosive plays, the big plays, and you don’t chase them. You let them come to you.
“I think he’s taking a stride, he’s playing within the offense, he’s doing what we ask him to do, and as long as he does that, in my opinion, the other stuff will come as we continue to play. I mean, we’re six weeks in, we still got a lot of football left to play. So, I’m...
