The Cleveland Browns will have their hands full on Sunday afternoon.
Trying to contain Derrick Henry is a Herculean task on its own, so poking the bear might not do much to help their case.
That’s why ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith put Grant Delpit on blast for his recent comments about the Baltimore Ravens’ superstar:
“If I’m Roger Goodell, I’m picking up the phone and saying ‘Head down to Cleveland right now and test a few of those players because something’s wrong with them.’ This is Derrick Henry we’re talking about. This is a future Hall of Famer. And by the way, in the two games they played last year, was it 31 carries for 231 yards, averaging about 6.8 yards, three touchdowns? That’s who they decide they want to talk stuff to. Clearly, they are on something,” Smith said.
For those who didn’t read the quote, the Browns safety claimed that tackling Henry wasn’t that hard.
Those comments have sparked multiple reactions around football, from Nick Saban to Henry himself.
Myles Garrett said that talk was cheap and that they needed to prove that on the field on Sunday, adding that Henry is a future Hall of Famer.
Even so, he also likes his defense’s chances of getting the job done.
That will be way easier said than done, especially if the 31-year-old picks things up where he left off in Week 1.
Henry rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns on just 18 carries in the season opener vs. the Buffalo Bills.
On the downside, he also had a crucial fumble that opened up the door for Josh Allen and company to pull off an epic fourth-quarter comeback.
Things can always get a little heated in divisional games; that’s part of the deal.
It also makes sense that the Browns will try to get into Henry’s head and see whether they can take him out of his game.
Still, of all the players they could’ve chosen to mess with, perhaps they didn’t make the safest bet.
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