The Titans have employed various approaches in the backfield over the course of the first six weeks, but they say the one they went with on Monday night is the one they want in the future.
DeMarco Murray has played a little under 65 percent of the offensive snaps for the entire season while Derrick Henry is just under 40 percent, but Henry got two more snaps in the win over the Colts. During his conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Titans coach Mike Mularkey called it a “pretty good model of what we’re looking for” out of the backfield.
Henry was the back closing out the win, which he did in style when he ran for a 72-yard touchdown to ice the game. Mularkey was asked if Henry is going to remain in that role.
“Yeah, I could say that,” Mularkey said. “That’s kind of been the case as of late when we go into four-minute. Again, he’s probably a little fresher from not taking a lot of snaps. I really like how it played out with the percentages and how these guys -- I mean, the first guy down to congratulate him on the touchdown was DeMarco Murray, and I thought that kind of shows what kind of players we have in that locker room.”
The Titans would probably like to use everything about Monday night’s offensive performance as a model for the future as Marcus Mariota threw for 306 yards while the backs were helping them hold onto the ball for 35 minutes. If they can replicate that on a consistent basis, it should be a successful season in Nashville.