Derrick Henry has hinted he may be nearing the end of his Tennessee Titans career following their failure to reach the play-offs.
The Titans were eliminated from post-season contention on Sunday following a 19-16 overtime defeat by the Houston Texans.
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Henry’s contract expires at the end of the current campaign and he conceded he may be playing elsewhere in 2024.
Asked if the next few weeks would be his last as a Titan, he said: “Yeah, definitely today you had that feeling.
“I had hope of kind of slipping in there [the playoffs], and then being eliminated with three games left…
“I’ve been here my whole career. Definitely wanted to go out strong, which isn’t the case.”
Henry, the Titans’ franchise leader in rushing touchdowns with 88, managed a paltry nine yards against the Texans with the away side keeping him quiet.
“We weren’t great today as a whole,” Henry said. “They were the better team today. The credit goes to them. It seemed like they had an answer for everything.”
Veteran quarterback Case Keenum was the hero for Houston. Deputising for the injured CJ Stroud, he threw for 229 yards and made a clutch play deep in OT with a 41-yard throw for Devin Singletary.
That advanced the Texans downfield and four plays later Ka’imi Fairbairn dispatched a 54-yard field goal to give Houston the win.
“Case did a really nice job today,” head coach DeMeco Ryans said.
“He was very efficient, keeping us moving, and no play bigger than the play there at the end. Seeing him scramble around to find ‘Motor’ [Singletary] for the big explosive pass, to put us in field goal range, it shows Case is just a true professional.”