Jags’ Wilson on Henry: ‘Definitely not trying to be on no stiff-arm tape’

Anytime you prepare for the Tennessee Titans, you have to strategize and do everything in your power to stop RB Derrick Henry. The NFL’s leading rusher is having another big-time season. In 12 games, Henry has rushed for 1317 yards and 12 touchdowns. Along the way, there have been many highlight-reel runs, which includes that legendary stiff-arm. 

At 6-3, 247 pounds, Henry packs a punch and is very difficult to bring down. Jaguars S Jarrod Wilson knows firsthand what it’s like to tackle Henry, and he and his Jaguars(1-11) will have to do their best to get Henry to the ground on Sunday when they host the Tennessee Titans(8-4).

“We know this guy. We know this guy’s going to get the football a lot, and he’s coming downhill,” Wilson said about Henry. “We definitely have to execute, stay in our gaps, being just discipline in the run game. That’s a big thing for us is to definitely knock out this run. We know he’s getting the ball, so it’s really just man on man, trying to match up and do our job on Sunday.”

Jaguars DE Dawuane Smoot added on Henry: “I mean if you haven’t noticed his numbers go crazy like halfway through the season. It’s a mindset. We just have to put our body on him at the end of the day. We have to really hit him and kind of wrap him up and try to get as [many] people to him as possible.”

Like everybody else on the Jaguars, Wilson hopes to avoid being a victim of Henry’s stiff-arm.

“He’s coming around the edge at 250 pounds at 6-4, so he already has that length advantage,” Wilson said. “But, I’m not trying to be on that tape. [I’m] trying to cut his legs down, get him down the best way I can. Definitely not trying to be on no stiff-arm tape.”

In the first game between the two teams, the Jaguars held Henry to 84 yards and less than 4.0 yards a carry, but Jacksonville would lose to the Titans 33-30. So, if the Jaguars can control Henry, maybe they could put themselves in a position to end their 11-game losing streak, but if they can’t control Henry, it could be another long day for Jacksonville.