Why TreVeyon Henderson looked at the sideline during TD run

New England Patriots

Henderson wasn’t quite sure if he should score or take more time off the clock. So, he looked for a coach.

FOXBOROUGH — TreVeyon Henderson stiff-armed a defender, kept his feet churning, and raced for daylight.

By the time he hit his top speed, he was so far ahead of the linemen chasing after him that he had enough time for a brief glance back at the sideline.

There was less than two minutes left in the game, and the rookie running back wasn’t exactly sure whether it would be best to go in for the score or take some time off the clock since the Patriots were already up.

So, he looked for one of his coaches to provide some situational football guidance.

“I had like two seconds to make a decision,” Henderson said. “I knew the defenders were right behind me, so I scored.”

The reactions were mixed, Henderson said. He saw some people motioning for him to go down, and others motioning for him to keep going.

“I was trying to find one of the coaches, but it was just happening so fast,” Henderson said.

Tampa Bay scored on the following drive as Baker Mayfield found Tez Johnson for an 11-yard touchdown catch with 33 seconds remaining. But, Stefon Diggs recovered the Buccaneers’ onside kick attempt and the Patriots were able to run out the clock.

The fourth-quarter touchdown sealed the most productive performance of Henderson’s young career. It was his first time eclipsing the 100 yard mark, and first time scoring more than one touchdown in a game.

The rookie running back has managed to get going over the past few weeks. On Sunday, his linemen came through with blocks that helped spring him for big gains.

“We got into the second level, Mack blocked the safety and we ran away from the post safety,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “And then I thought we were able to get him to the edge. I thought that Hoop [Austin Hooper] and Will [Campbell] did a good job of getting the edge.”

“And then [Khyiris] Tonga was able to get out on the safety, and TreVeyon did everything else. So, it was a tough sledding on a lot of those runs. But again, if you’re able to stick with it and you’re able to break a couple, that helps.”

Henderson has taken on an increased role with Rhamondre Stevenson out. Terrell Jennings got banged up during Sunday’s win. The Patriots will monitor how things go in terms of running back depth as they head into a short week.

“Terrell’s being evaluated and we’ll see where he is,” Vrabel said. “Again, today’s walkthrough, we’ll try to do our best with the injury report. We’ll see what he’s able to do.

“I would say the same with all those guys that weren’t available for the game yesterday, I think that they’re working extremely hard and I think that they – we’ll see what they can do with the walkthrough. They’ll probably do a little bit more and then we’ll try to evaluate so that we can make some decisions for the game.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.