BALTIMORE — Running back Derrick Henry let out his frustration after another costly fourth-quarter fumble by slamming his helmet into the bench on the sideline.
By the time Henry reached the locker room, he appeared in shock at how his third fumble in three games played a pivotal role in the Baltimore Ravens’ 38-30 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Henry said. “This sucks right now. I ain’t going to lie to y’all.”
With Baltimore trailing 28-24 midway through the fourth quarter, Henry got the ball punched from behind by Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson at his own 16-yard line and the Lions converted the turnover into a field goal. This marked Henry’s second fumble in the fourth quarter this season — both of which came in the Ravens’ losses this season.
These ball security problems are uncharacteristic for Henry. In his previous nine seasons, he had lost two fourth-quarter fumbles in 136 games.
Henry apologized to his teammates, coaches and fans.
“It’s just crazy,” Henry said. “Three fumbles [in three games] straight. I’m trying every day to fix the problem that just keeps occurring. I’m my worst critic, so I’m not going to try to beat myself up too much. But it’s hard not to when it’s consecutive and consistent [instances] of me doing the same thing.”
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Ravens coach John Harbaugh doesn’t believe this will continue to be an issue for Henry.
“That was kind of a blind shot there,” Harbaugh said. “I thought he had the ball in good position. Still, we just want to protect the football; all our guys do, and we have to do it. We have to be good at it.”
Henry, 31, is one of the most accomplished running backs in NFL history. He currently ranks 18th on the league’s all-time rushing list with 11,665 yards and is sixth with 109 rushing touchdowns.
But Henry was held to 50 yards rushing on Monday night after being limited to 24 yards rushing in a win over the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 14. The Ravens (1-2) now head on a short week to play at Kansas City, where Baltimore is 0-3 against Patrick Mahomes.
“Adversity is rough right now,” Henry said. “But as long as we stay focused — and everybody else will stay focused — we’ll try to turn this thing around. I know we will.”