Derrick Henry's first game next to Lamar Jackson in Baltimore didn't spawn big numbers for the running back.
Against Kansas City, Henry had 13 carries for 46 rush yards with a touchdown in his debut. The Ravens went away from the bruising back in the second half, where he saw just three carries for 13 yards.
Coach John Harbaugh noted on Monday that the plan was never to saddle up Henry for a boatload of totes.
"We didn't bring Derrick in here to be the guy that gets the ball 30 times a game," Harbaugh said, via the team's official transcript. "He's done that before. That's really not the plan. The plan is Derrick, Lamar, , , , Bate (Rashod Bateman) and Nelly (Nelson Agholor). That's kind of the plan in this offense going forward."
Harbaugh's statement shouldn't be a surprise. The Ravens operate at their best with the ball in Jackson's hands. The addition of Henry provides a different threat but was never intended to take the load away from Jackson most weeks. Last week, Jackson rushed 16 times for 122 yards.
"I think it's going to be kind of every game is going to be interesting and different," Harbaugh said. "I like the way the run game looked, for the most part, with just the running back run game. There were some plays that I'd like to see be blocked a little better, but other plays that were blocked really well, and then we rushed for 185 yards overall, and a lot of that is Lamar, but that's the formula. The formula is all the guys together. It's not just the one guy."
Just as the Ravens don't plan to rush Henry 30 times, they'd probably like to shave off a couple of Jackson's hits as well. His 16 carries were more than all other Ravens RBs combined (14). Jackson missed practice on Monday, but NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported that the QB is dealing with soreness and is expected to return to the practice field as the week progresses.
The more interesting aspect of Thursday's game regarding the Ravens' backfield is the prominent role Justice Hill played as a third-down and pass-catching back. By default, Henry not being on the field for all three downs will lighten his load. The three second-half carries also were a surprise, as the 247-pound back usually does his best work against tired defenses in the fourth quarter.
That doesn't mean there won't be games where the Ravens saddle Henry with a big workload, but it won't be the primary plan with the 30-year-old running back.
"I think that evaluation will be best made over the course of the season," Harbaugh said of the plan. "And I'm very confident, there are going to be games where Derrick is going to go for 100-plus [yards] or more, and you're going to be asking me, 'Why does Zay only have two catches?' That's probably going to happen during the course of the season, and that's going to be good for us. That's what we want to be. We want to be unpredictable that way. Where does the game take us as we get into the game?"
Henry's mere presence should open a few more lanes for Jackson and make the Ravens more potent in the red zone, but it appears the days of Henry leading the NFL in carries is over.