Tackling Derrick Henry a team effort for Raiders defense

Raiders coach Josh McDaniels started listing adjectives to describe Titans running back Derrick Henry before finally giving up.

“Durable. Big. Physical. Fast,” McDaniels said in describing one of the NFL’s elite runners. “Any superlative you want to use for him would be accurate. He’s going to have the ball more than any other player on their team … and it’s very difficult to stop him.”

But that’s what the Raiders defense will be tasked with when the 0-2 teams meet Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

Expect the Titans to rely even more on Henry than usual considering the importance of this game for both teams. They have struggled on offense — scoring a total of 27 points — but the Raiders know what they are capable of doing on the ground.

“We can’t let them get the run going,” Raiders safety Duron Harmon said. “An offense like that with a back like that, if they get going early with that run game, it’s going to be a long day, because once that’s going, everything is open for them.”

In Week 1, Henry carried the ball 21 times for 82 yards in a loss to the Giants. In Week 2, he carried 13 times for 25 yards and one touchdown, as the Titans fell behind early and were routed by the Bills on “Monday Night Football.”

The Raiders want to continue that trend, but they know they can’t sell out by stacking the box with extra defenders. The key is for everyone to take care of their assignments so they can limit Henry without committing too many resources and sacrificing other areas of the field.

“I wish it was as easy as saying, ‘Hey, put the safety down (in the box) and then it’ll be all good,’” McDaniels said. “(But) they use a lot of different run schemes.”

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has gone against Henry only once, and that was in a preseason game in which Henry barely played. But the game left quite an impression.

“He is a big man,” Graham said of the 6-foot-3-inch, 247-pound Henry. “There’s not a lot of people on the planet that look like him. So the tackling is the No. 1 thing, and then the relentlessness. This is a back that could get the ball 25 to 30 times. So it’s going to be relentless. He’s going to keep coming at you.”

Graham said that aspect of Henry’s game is reminiscent of former Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch.

“I just remember Marshawn is the best I ever went against in terms of coaching and just how it would build throughout the game,” Graham said. “That third quarter was tough, man. It was tough because Marshawn was still going, and you see some of that, some of the playoff games I’ve seen in the past with Henry. They just keep building, and they start wearing on you, so you got to be ready to tackle them for four quarters and understand it’s not going to be a one-man show. It’s going to be a whole bunch of guys that got to get to him.”

That’s where consistency and technique come into play, Harmon said.

“It’s just more of an intent,” he said. “Always being aware of where you want to hit him and then doing it over and over again. He’s one of, if not the most, physical backs in the league. Probably one of the toughest to tackle. But at the end of the day, if you trust your training and you’re practicing the right way all week, you’ll give yourself a chance.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.