John Harbaugh on Derrick Henry vs. Cowboys: As a football coach, I’ll tell you, that was fun

Ravens running back Derrick Henry had a dominant performance in Sunday’s victory over the Cowboys, rushing for 151 yards on 25 carries with a pair of touchdowns. He had a 23-yard catch, too.

After putting up 46 yards in Week 1 and 84 yards in Week 2, this is a vintage performance from Henry, who rushed for at least 100 yards just four times with the Titans in 2023.

In his Monday news conference, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh joked he was impressed with Henry’s suit and hat but was more impressed with his game.

“As a football coach, I’ll tell you, that was fun,” Harbaugh said. “It’s like Derrick said, ‘It’s a team effort.’ Football is a team game, but we gave him some space [thanks to] our offensive line [and] our scheme. I thought the gameplan was really good. I thought Lamar [Jackson] created some space for him, as well. Like you guys all said, the perimeter blocking [was good]. All that stuff created the space that he needed to be who he is, and he was who he is.

“He made a couple of runs, too, with vision, where he’d start inside and bounce outside there, or he’d cut back. He saw some things that not every back sees every time, and once he gets that momentum going, man, he’s tough. He’s different. So yes, I was excited about that.”

Henry had noted that he’d pushed the offensive line to improve, which Harbaugh noted comes from the running back being “really supportive of the guys.”

“He’s that kind of a guy, so he challenges them in a way that is [like], ‘You’re capable of so much more. Let’s go be that,’ and then … [he’ll] dig in there and work with them on it. I think that’s what he talked about,” Harbaugh said. “So yes, you see it. He’s out there in pre-practice. You saw him last week before practice working with the guys in the pass protection stuff, out there before [practice] when the special teams are going and stuff. That’s genuine leadership.”

Henry is currently tied for the league lead with Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara, and Kyren Willians with four rushing touchdowns. He’s No. 5 with 281 rushing yards.

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