That means foot issues that bothered him most of the 2022 season are clearly in the rearview, and he is a happy man.
“I feel great,” Henderson said Wednesday. “I feel like I’m back to myself.”
The 5-foot-10, 214-pound Virginia native said he would be able to play if there were a game this week but is easing back into action out of caution.
He also cleared the air for the first time after expressing frustration at the end of last year over fan reaction to his being in and out of the lineup because of injury most of the season.
“It doesn’t really phase me what the fans say because they don’t know what they don’t know,” he said. “But what matters to me most is the people above, the people who really matters the most. I just felt like it was important for them to know those things. I didn’t want to make it seem like I’m soft because that’s never the question. I’ll play for anything. I’ll do anything to be on the field with my team, and I’ve been doing everything I possibly could to be on my team all last season. So whatever the outsiders say, that really means nothing to me.”
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day being opaque about Henderson’s health status much of the year added to the confusion around his situation, but Henderson shed light on what exactly he was dealing with.
It turns out he fractured one of the sesamoid bones in his left foot.
“So you got two of those, and when they did the X-ray, I basically had three,” Henderson said in reference to a small bone that is embedded in soft tissue and aids in flexibility and movement. “So my bone had split, and that’s like the bone you need to actually push off. So basically I couldn’t push off that whole last season. Every time I tried to push off I was basically re-fracturing that bone. And then I tore some ligaments and tendons, so my foot was basically beat up.”
Henderson first hurt his foot in Week 3 against Toledo but still played in eight games total and finished with 571 yards and six touchdowns.
He still ran for 121 yards against Wisconsin on Sept. 24 and 118 yards at Michigan State two weeks later but played in only three of Ohio State’s last seven games and rarely looked like himself when he was in the lineup.
“I just thank God for giving me the strength to play through the games that I played and getting me through the season,” he said. “It was tough just going into games. I was barely practicing all last season and then not going into the games confident, wondering will I be able to just cut again. Will I be able to be full speed again? Will I be able to just be myself, you know? And then I feel like that affected me a lot.”
Running backs coach Tony Alford is happy to have Henderson back ahead of schedule and liking what he sees from the junior on and off the field.
“He’s doing great in the meetings,” Alford said. “He’s trying to get himself into stuff, so we kind of have to pull the reins on him a little bit. So I think it’s great when he’s in, kind of gives everybody – for me at least – gives me a more calm feeling with some guys that know what they’re doing. His energy’s back the way it used to be, and his demeanor is back the way it used to be and the way we all want it. He’s a competitive guy who wants to play, but he’ll get back when the doctors say he can again.”
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