CLEVELAND (AP) — Derrick Henry was doing what he's done so successfully for so long, churning his 6-foot-3 frame into a mass of bodies trying to push the pile forward, when the Baltimore Ravens running back momentarily forgot his top priority: protecting the football.
One moment, the Ravens were in control in the fourth quarter and minutes away from a workmanlike win against Cleveland. The next, Henry and Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger were colliding
on a seemingly routine play. The ball squirted free and into the arms of defensive back Tyson Campbell.
“I just felt like, in that situation, it was a positive gain,” Henry said. “You never know what that might have turned into.”
This time, it ended up turning into a loss.
About a half-hour after the ball got away, the game did, too, for a 13-10 setback. Afterward, Henry stood in front of his teammates in a quiet postgame locker room and apologized.
“I told the team, ‘Put this one on me,’” Henry said. “I’ve just got to do better. Can’t put the team in this position.”
While Henry was hardly the only one to blame on a day Baltimore's offense failed to score on its last nine possessions and the defense let Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy get loose for a 33-yard catch-and-run that set up Andre Szmyt's 37-yard, game-winning field goal, Henry placed it squarely on his broad shoulders.
“I’ve got to take care of the ball,” the NFL's ninth all-time leading rusher said. “No excuses for that. Got to (get it) out of harm’s way. Got to be better. ... (I) sound like a broken record with this.”
The fumble was the first this season for Henry, though he had seven combined during his first two years in Baltimore in 2024 and 2025.
Ravens coach Jesse Minter credited Schwesinger for making a good play. The bigger concern was the way the Ravens let Cleveland's listless offense take advantage of the miscue by going 35 yards in seven plays to tie it on a 2-yard touchdown run by Audric Estime, who was on Minnesota's practice squad last week.
“I’d like for us to be able to rise up and get a stop right there and have each others’ backs, (and) we weren’t able to do that,” said Minter, who calls the Ravens' defensive plays. “It becomes an even bigger play when you’re not able to kind of back it up with the defense.”
Baltimore's offense had two chances to go back in front, only to go three-and-out twice to fall to 1-1 without star quarterback Lamar Jackson, who sat out a second straight game with an ankle injury.
Backup Tyler Huntley led scoring drives on each of the Ravens' first two possessions but did little afterward. Baltimore's best scoring opportunity the rest of the way was a 49-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter by Tyler Loop that drifted wide. The miss kept the Browns within a touchdown, and the 24th fumble of Henry's career set the stage for Cleveland to join the Ravens and Steelers atop the AFC North at 4-2.
While the big picture is still promising for the Ravens, particularly with Jackson nearing a return, Henry felt it was important to be accountable to the men he lines up alongside every week.
“I just have to be better, be better for this team, be better in my play (and) better taking care of the ball,” he said. “(Fumbles) can’t happen.”
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