New England Patriots rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson finally enjoyed a breakout performance on Sunday, and some tough love from Stefon Diggs may have helped motivate him.
Henderson rushed for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Patriots’ 28-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. Both scores came in the second half, when Henderson exploded for runs of 55 yards and 69 yards.
Diggs told reporters after the game that he challenged Henderson during halftime. The wide receiver said New England’s veteran players are “kind of hard on everybody” but that he called out Henderson.
“I’m definitely hard on TreVeyon. Just because I see so much potential,” Diggs said, via Mark Daniels of MassLive.com. “One guy tackling him and stuff like that. I’ve been around some great backs in my career, and I tell him, ‘No great backs get tackled. I want to see you score.’ I was talking mad junk to him at halftime. I was just being hard on him. So him coming out there, busting two of them, it’s good to be hard on people, I guess.”
Henderson was electric during the preseason, and many expected him to have a significant role in New England’s offense. He has seen an increase in his workload in recent weeks with Rhamondre Stevenson banged up and Antonio Gibson out for the season with a torn ACL.
On Sunday, Henderson showed the type of game-breaking potential that made him worthy of the 38th overall pick in the draft. He even pulled a genius move on his second touchdown run, which sealed the game for New England.
The Patriots improved to 8-2 with their win over the Buccaneers. They have now won seven straight games, and their chances of sustaining the success will be even better if Henderson has found his stride. Whatever Diggs said to Henderson at halftime on Sunday must have worked.
