Henderson Responds

John Henderson's response to Jack Del Rio's harangue seems rather mature. I'm not saying that Henderson isn't mature...he's 30 years old now and has played in the NFL for eight years.

He should be mature. Then again, I've know a lot of 30 year olds both in and out of football who wouldn't have handled things the way Henderson did.

I'm playing amateur psychologist here, but it seems to me that the shoulder injury is legit (Henderson said it was a grade 2 separation) and that Henderson realizes that Del Rio was trying to make a point--not just to Big John, but to everybody on the team.

If you watch the video (you can check it out on Jaguars.com), Henderson doesn't come off as a guy who is fuming over a snub from the head coach or who took it personally that he was called out in public.

Instead, he sounds like a guy who gets it. He realizes that he hasn't been as dominant a player the past two seasons and with Time's Winged Chariot approaching, the number of years in his prime are dwindling.

Henderson has dealt with a lot on and off the field over the past two seasons, and maybe some of those distractions are still there, but if the Jaguars are going to have a big turnaround from their 5-11 season, they'll need Henderson to return to his former Pro Bowl form.

Maybe, they just need to get Henderson back to his old pre-game ritual: