Coming into the Patriots‘ Week 11 showing against the Jets, one player who was clearly going to be under the microscope was running back TreVeyon Henderson. After a promising summer of training camp, it had been a slow start to Henderson’s NFL career, as concerns about his pass-blocking outweighed the Patriots’ desire to get his explosive-play ability involved in the mix.
But time and circumstances changes, as, first, backup running back Antonio Gibson injured his ACL in Week 4 and was ruled out for the season. Then, starter Rhamondre Stevenson went down with a toe injury ahead of Week 9, and remained out in Week 10, when Henderson put forth a 147-yard breakout game with two touchdown runs, of 55 and 69 yards, to fuel a gritty win over the Buccaneers.
The question on Thursday against the Jets was whether Henderson would continue to show he has the chops to be the team’s leading man in the backfield. He came through: Henderson notched 19 carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns, adding a third touchdown as a receiver, where he caught five passes for 31 yards. The Patriots won, 27-14.
After the game, Henderson spoke to Amazon Prime Sports about the effort he put in, and the Patriots rookie was quick to pass out credit to everyone from God to Drake Maye. Remember, it was only four weeks ago that Henderson played just nine snaps in the win over Tennessee, and only 14 in the win over Cleveland.
He played 51 snaps in each of the last two weeks with Stevenson out.
“I’ve just been staying patient, trusting the Lord’s plan, continuing to do my part,” Henderson said. “The rest I leave up to Him. I am thankful that I was able to come out here and He allowed me to have this success.”
When it came to the touchdowns, Henderson pointed to the offensive line, which has been improving as a run-blocking unit as the season has gone on. That will obviously be beneficial for the Patriots offense as the weather gets colder and the run game comes more into focus.
It’s not clear whether it will be Henderson or Stevenson who will do the bulk of the ball-carrying, but with a rebuilt offensive line featuring four new starters, it’s a positive for the Patriots to start having cohesion there.
“Those first two touchdowns, all my offensive linemen. I gotta give those guys credit,” Henderson said. “They make my job easier. Those guys put in the dirty work, and so I really give the credit to those guys. I am really thankful to be playing alongside of those guys, running behind those guys. And playing on this team.”
It is now a remarkable eight straight wins for the Patriots, who have played a notably light schedule but, at the same time, have met every challenge that’s been presented to them going back to Week 4. And there’s no quarterback playing at a higher level these days than Maye, who was 25-for-34 passing for 281 yards and a touchdown on the night.
“He’s a baller and he is a great leader,” Henderson said. “The biggest thing is, he is humble. He comes into work each and every day and he pushes everyone around him.”
The New Orleans Saints have been missing one of the biggest pieces of their defense to begin the 2025 National Football League season.
New Orleans re-signed Chase Young this past offseason to a three-year, $51 million deal after spending the 2024 season with the Saints. Young played 17 games for the Saints last year and had 5 1/2 sacks and 31 total tackles. That was tied with Carl Granderson for second on the team behind Bryan Bresee who had 7 1/2.
Young has missed the Saints’ first three games of the season while dealing with a calf injury. On Wednesday, the Saints released their initial Injury Report of the week and it was shared that Young missed practice once again. Young was joined by Dillon Radunz who also missed practice on Wednesday.
While this is the case, Saints head coach Kellen More had a positive update about the pass rusher on Wednesday. Moore shared that Young is “close” to returning, as shared by Jeff Noawk of Audacy Sports.
“Chase (Young) is close,” Moore said. “He’s progressing.”
That’s obviously not much to go off of, but it is positive at the very least. Young is a big piece for this team. Back early on this offseason, it wasn’t clear what direction the Saints would go in. They weren’t in a great position salary cap-wise and it seemed like Young would be too expensive to return Instead, the Saints restructured some deals and ended up re-signing the 26-year-old.
When he initially went down with the calf injury, he talked about how he was feeling good.
“I feel good, very good. I feel good, that’s all I’m going to say,” Young said. He also said “Hell no” when asked if it is a long-term issue.
But, this is a calf issue we’re talking about. Especially with all of the Achilles injuries going around, it’s important to take care of calf injuries and not get hasty. Hopefully, he’s able to return as soon as this weekend, but it’s important to not rush a soft-tissue injury like the calf.