Derrick Henry is struggling to hold onto the ball so far this season.
During the Baltimore Ravens' 38-30 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night, the 31-year-old running back had a key fourth-quarter fumble that put his team in a bad spot. With Baltimore trailing 28-24 and 8:31 remaining in the game, Henry coughed the ball up, and Detroit recovered and returned it to Baltimore's 16-yard line. The Lions got a field goal out of the ensuing drive to extend their lead.
It was the third fumble for Henry this season, two of which have been lost. The first came during Baltimore's agonizing 41-40 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 1. That fumble came with 3:10 remaining in the game and added fuel to Buffalo's incredible comeback win. After that game, Henry blamed himself for the loss.
After Monday night's game, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked about Henry's fumbling and said the team has to fix it.
"I don't think it will be [the norm] going forward, but we gotta get it fixed," Harbaugh said. "That was a blind spot... Still, we just want to protect the football."
Despite the fumbles, Henry has put up good numbers this season. He's a big part of why Baltimore leads the NFL in scoring and has made some unfortunate NFL history.
Through three games, Henry has 242 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries. That's 5.9 yards per carry. The flipside is that he's lost more fumbles through three weeks than he has in any season since 2022. And his three fumbles have already equaled his total from 2023 and 2024 combined.
This has been an uncharacteristic streak of fumbles from Henry. We'll see if he can turn things around.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as John Harbaugh Addressed Derrick Henry's Fumbling Woes After Loss to Lions.