Living legend Rob Gronkowski signed a ceremonial one-day contract to retire a New England Patriot Wednesday at Gillette Stadium.
The following night, in front of a national audience and on the very same grounds, TreVeyon Henderson became the first rookie to follow in Gronk’s footsteps and score three touchdowns in one game. It’s been 15 years to the month since a first-year New England player has made such an impact as a scoring threat.
Yes, it’s early, but Henderson looks good enough to be the bell cow running back a very talented offense has missed through the early part of the season. Rhamondre Stevenson has been out for two games with a toe injury and the Patriots have already gotten a pair of fabulous performances from the kid in his absence.
In the immortal words of he-who-once-cut-sleeves, “You ever hear of Wally Pipp?”
Let’s cut to the chase: most importantly, Henderson holds onto the ball. His first touchdown came off a toss from Maye. He charged up the middle, spun off contact, and was basically shoved into the endzone by the entire offensive line without losing the rock. Stevenson, quite unfortunately, had three fumbles through his nine games of action. Two of them were absolutely backbreaking mistakes against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3 and led to one of the team’s two losses.
Where Henderson’s one fumble this year looked like a bug in the system, Stevenson’s is a pretty unbearable feature.
It would also be easy to roll one’s eyes and say, “Yeah, but, it was Thursday Night Football against the stinky Jets.” Well, that argument doesn’t fly when Henderson’s total breakout game (147 rushing yards and two touchdowns) came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – one of the top teams in the NFC with a legitimate defense and Todd Bowles acting as the head of the snake. That argument is a wingless bird. Or, a penguin, (penguins don’t fly).
Henderson shouldered that massive workload just four days before seeing the Jets. With both Stevenson and recently-elevated Terrell Jennings out with injuries, he had no choice but to tough it out through the knee injury he sustained against the Bucs and then bear the burden of the entire ground game against a divisional opponent, on a chilly night. The Patriots, frustratingly, didn’t add a running back before the NFL trade deadline and so D’Ernest Johnson was the only other option against the Jets. He had three rushing attempts for a total of six yards.
“He’s executed, whether that’s a checkdown or a touchdown in the back of the endzone. You know, no home run tonight, but I thought he grinded it out, pretty much, what was there," head coach Mike Vrabel said postgame. "So, he helped us a lot of ways tonight. [You] saw the power-push touchdown, which was really cool, so I’m happy every time guys can help us.”
To be crystal clear: this opinion does not anoint Henderson the second coming of Derrick Henry. One aspect of what’s been so impressive about Vrabel’s dramatic program turnaround is that he’s done it without the pieces he had with the Tennessee Titans: there’s been no transcendent running back; despite tremendous wide receiver play, there’s been no singular guy who’s quite AJ Brown-adjacent, (Diggs could make an argument for himself, but part of what’s been so successful for this team is that he just doesn’t).
Instead, there’s been Drake Maye. He’s exceeded wildest expectations in his second season. Soft schedule be damned, he’s having a Lamar Jackson/Patrick Mahomes-esque year. The “MVP” chants aren’t cute, at this point. They’re obvious.
Maye will need a complementary running game when the playoffs start. For all his veteran experience, Stevenson only has one postseason game under his belt, (New England’s measly 2021 appearance against the Bills, in which he had 27 rushing yards).
Stevenson has always been accountable for his mistakes. He talks to media after every tough loss, (and there have been a lot before Vrabel came back to town). He’s available and transparent. He appears to be a high character guy.
He’s also great in pass protection and a smart situational player. With Antonio Gibson out for the rest of the year, the Patriots still need him for the long run of what’s hopefully a lengthy season. Heck, Stevenson was most potent when he rotated with Damien Harris. He’s never been an every-down-back.
Henderson looks like a clear spark for the ground game. He’s quickly won the significant carries, regardless of anyone else’s health.