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Unthinkable at the start of December Authentic Marcus Mariota Jersey , Derrick Henry has put together the best two-game stretch in franchise history to put himself 118 yards shy of the first 1,000-yard rushing season in his three-year NFL career."I'm not focused on that," Henry said Wednesday. "I'm focused on us getting this (win) and us finishing off the week right, going in there prepared and executing the plan and whatever happens happens. And I don't really focus on 1,000 yards. As long as we get this win, that's what I'll be happy with."The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Henry has turned around not just his season, but cemented his spot on the Tennessee roster. Rumors swirled that the Titans tried to trade him away at the deadline earlier this year, and Henry lost his starting spot to veteran Dion Lewis in November.Then Henry, who had been running much better since Tennessee's bye at the end of October, turned in a game for the record books Dec. 6.Henry tied Tony Dorsett's NFL record with a 99-yard touchdown run and finished with a franchise-record 238 yards on 17 carries and scored four touchdowns in a 30-9 rout of Jacksonville. That got Henry back in the starting lineup, and he ran a career-high 33 times for 170 yards and two TDs in a 17-0 shutout against the New York Giants.His 408 yards combined over the two games are the best in team history, topping the 405 yards Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell managed for the then-Houston Oilers in October 1980. Nobody had ever run for six TDs over two games for this franchise before Henry.Offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur said he knows Henry was a little frustrated earlier this season.So what changed? Better blocking and play all around, especially by Henry."I just think he's running with a purpose, running with an attitude, a mindset a mentality that I'm not going down," LaFleur said.Three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan says it's cool to be part of record-setting performances."He finds the holes, and he makes those extra guys miss," Lewan said. "You can't block them all on every single play. As much as we'd like to take credit, that's him."Now Henry can run for just 59 yards apiece over each of the next two games to reach 1,000 yards for the season Youth Wesley Woodyard Jersey , and he gets his first chance Saturday against Washington (7-7). The Redskins have allowed at least 130 yards rushing over each of the past five games.Henry is very familiar with Washington's defensive line, having won championships with defensive end Jonathan Allen and rookie nose tackle Daron Payne at Alabama. But the running back, so critical of his own play early this season, insists he's not worried about reaching 1,000 yards as long as the Titans win."For me to be doing this stuff, you have to look at what's happening around me," Henry said. "That's why I always say team because for me to have success and make big plays, everybody looks at what's going on around me, and those guys are doing their job. I'm just going out there trying to do mine."Coach Mike Vrabel called Henry the type of leader who works to improve what he is doing, which has carried over."Happy for his success and hope we can get him as many yards as we can get him," Vrabel said.Notes: Five Titans did not practice Wednesday: Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jurrell Casey (knee), LBs Brian Orakpo (elbow) and Sharif Finch (left shoulder), WR Tajae Sharpe (ankle) and LB Wesley Woodyard (back), added to the injury report after not being listed Tuesday.
QB Marcus Mariota (foot) and S Kenny Vaccaro (concussion protocol) practiced fully.Follow Teresa M. Walker at teresamwalkerWhat does a successful preseason look like for the Titans? Preseason NFL football is strange. I feel nearly the exact same range of emotions for each game every year. Game 1: Thrilled to see the team on the field again. Don’t even really care how they play. This game is a giant bucket of ice cold water in the desert. Game 2: Less interested. Really just waiting to see what happens in Game 3 now.Game 3: The dressed rehearsal game is probably the best overall preseason game. The starters usually play until around halftime and you really want to see some nice, crisp execution from that group before the backups head in.Game 4: WHO CARES, WHY IS THIS STILL HAPPENING?But what really matters in the preseason? Do wins and losses matter? I did some digging and it turns out that it doesn’t really matter much, if at all. There are plenty of anecdotes that point to this — the 0-16 Lions going 4-0 in the preseason is my favorite — but the data confirms that the correlation between preseason wins and regular season wins is virtually non-existent. In fact, this study shows that teams with a 2-2 preseason record have the highest winning percentage compared to the other possible preseason results (1-3 is the worst). Looking at the Titans’ results over the past 10 seasons, you can see that preseason records really have no bearing on how the team performs in the regular season. 2017: 1-3, 9-72016: 3-1, 9-72015: 2-2 http://www.titansaut...n-orakpo-jersey , 3-132014: 2-2, 2-142013: 1-3, 7-92012: 3-1, 6-102011: 3-1, 9-72010: 2-2, 6-102009: 3-2*, 8-82008: 3-1, 13-3*Titans played in the Hall of Fame Game in 2009.As much as anything during the preseason, fans should be cheering for injury avoidance. I found this study from the 2017 season that plotted the number of “man-games” lost for each team versus the number of regular season wins and found it to be pretty interesting.Graphically, you can see that losing lots of starters significantly decreases a team’s chances of going to the playoffs. When all eleven players on the field for your team get up at the end of a play, that’s even better than a long touchdown pass in the preseason. While wins and losses and stats may not matter, I believe execution does. You want to see players being able to go out and execute the plays that are called, especially the first team units. Last season we saw the Titans offense struggle mightily with execution in the preseason and that carried over directly in to the regular season. The hope will be that we see a much cleaner operation this year. You want to see guys knowing their assignments and being in the right places at the right time. Minimizing penalties and ME’s (mental errors) is a sign of good execution and a team that is understanding the offensive and defensive install during camp.While I’m excited to see what the new offense looks like in a game setting, most schemes are in their most dumbed-down, vanilla versions during preseason and I would expect that to be the case for the Titans tonight. You aren’t seeing a staff put together an opponent specific gameplan designed to beat the other team with the possible exception of Week 3. Don’t get me wrong, we will certainly see the basics of what the offense and defense will be built off of in Green Bay, but if it looks like they’re only running a few very basic plays, it’s probably because they are.It is going to be fun to see some of the young guys trying to make the roster getting their opportunity to play. You never know when a Drew Bennett or Victor Cruz is going to show up out of nowhere and become a legitimate starter. However, the most important thing that can happen tonight and for the rest of the preseason is for the Titans to get some good, clean execution from their starters and then get them out of the game healthy. That’s a successful preseason. Anything beyond that is just gravy.