Titans’ Derrick Henry ‘pissed off’ about playoff loss vs. Bengals: ‘I can’t wait to play football again’

The Tennessee Titans‘ 2021 season had plenty of both good and bad. Despite suffering a couple of surprising losses to teams like the New York Jets and Houston Texans, and despite playing with a record-setting amount of different players, the Titans clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC. It looked like this was a prime opportunity for the Titans to pursue their first Super Bowl in franchise history, but they weren’t able to win a single playoff game.

The Titans had the first-round bye in the AFC, had home-field advantage and were returning star running back Derrick Henry to the lineup. Yet, they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round, 19-16. It was a loss no one on the Titans expected, and now, they have to watch the team that bested them compete on the biggest stage for a Lombardi Trophy.

The loss was especially tough for Henry, who fought back from a foot injury that was originally thought to be season-ending to start in the playoffs. Henry rushed for 62 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries, but he’s upset he couldn’t will Tennessee to victory. The All-Pro back says that this loss will serve as his and his team’s motivation moving forward. 

“I am a competitor, and I pride myself on doing the best I can to be the best player I can to help us win and obviously I feel like I wasn’t that the last time we played,” Henry told Jim Wyatt of the Titans’ official website.

“I am pissed off about it, and I will be pissed off about it. … I can’t wait to play football again.”

Henry is in California for different promotional appearances, but he won’t be attending Super Bowl LVI. He doesn’t plan on going to the Super Bowl unless he’s playing in it. Tennessee’s running back credited Cincy for being the better team in Nashville on Jan. 22, but the loss is something that he won’t soon forget.

“But the Bengals were the better team that night, and that’s why they won, and that’s why they are in the Super Bowl,” Henry said. “But as far as us, we didn’t play to our standards, and how we wanted to play. It wasn’t how we wanted things to pan out. I know everybody on the team is mad about it, and we will all use it as motivation. I know I will. I have already started training, like I always do, but I am definitely ready and will be preparing for next year.”