Ravens' Derrick Henry Talks Super Bowl Goals, Lamar Jackson, NFL Legacy and More in B/R Interview

The bar is going to be quite high for the Baltimore Ravens during new head coach Jesse Minter's first season.

At least it will be in Derrick Henry's eyes.

"Win the Super Bowl," the star running back told Bleacher Report when discussing what would make the 2026 campaign a success. "That would be a success. I'll be going into year 11, winning the Super Bowl is the main thing and needed to make it a success story."

Baltimore will be under even more of a spotlight during that Lombardi Trophy pursuit after it fired John Harbaugh followed an 18-season tenure that included 12 playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title. 

While he was considered one of the most consistent coaches in the league with an impressive resume, the Ravens also advanced past the Divisional Round just once since winning the title during the 2012 campaign and went just 3-5 in Lamar Jackson's eight playoff starts under Harbaugh.

The front office decided it was time for a change after missing the playoffs entirely in 2025, and it brought in a former Ravens assistant in Minter. Minter was the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers the last two seasons, won a national championship as Michigan's defensive coordinator and was a defensive assistant in Baltimore from 2017 through 2020.

He will also have a motivated team after it missed the postseason.

"It's always motivating when you don't make the playoffs," Henry said. "That's what you go through the season for, to have the opportunity to play in January and February. We didn't do that, we weren't good enough. We felt like before the season started we would do special things, but we didn't.

"But you've got to go through stuff to get to the mountaintop, and I feel like everybody believes in that. Everybody is motivated on the squad, and we're looking forward to attacking this next season with the right mindset and not letting what happened this year happen again."

What happened was not something Baltimore is used to considering it entered the 2025 season having made the playoffs in six of the previous seven years. It had realistic Super Bowl expectations with Jackson and Henry leading the way, but things went anything but according to plan on the way to an 8-9 record.

The Ravens still had a chance to win the AFC North with a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 18 but fell 26-24 in large part because Tyler Loop's game-winning field-goal attempt went wide.

▶️ Full Ravens-Steelers Recap

05:05

While it was a stunning ending, the team's overall inconsistency is why the season came down to a single kick.

And some of that inconsistency came from Jackson.

While he is a two-time MVP and on the short list of the best quarterbacks of his generation, the Louisville product did not play up this elevated standards in 2025 while going 6-7 in his 13 games and throwing for 2,549 yards, 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions compared to 4,172 passing yards, 41 touchdown throws and four picks from the previous year.

He also ran for 349 yards and two scores compared to his 915 yards and four touchdowns on the ground in 2024.

Still, Henry has no doubt Jackson will bounce back in 2026.

"Lamar's a dynamic player, two-time MVP. One of the best players, if not the best player, in the league. Hall of Famer. He's the main reason I came to Baltimore," Henry said.

"As far as expectations, we don't like to put out too many expectations. We just put the work in and let the work show. We're not going out and saying stuff, we know what we want to accomplish and what we want to do. We have to put the work in and go do it."

The running back also stressed how much he enjoys spending time with Jackson off the field and suggested the quarterback should be a comedian as one of the funniest players in the league.

And he now has an even better understanding of what it is like to be around funny people after teaming up with actress and comedian Kathryn Hahn for Oikos' "The Big Hill" campaign that features a humorous twist in the Super Bowl's host city of San Francisco.

"Being there in the big spot with Kathryn was very cool, she's someone I've been watching since I was a kid," Henry said. "I've seen her in so many movies, she's been on the big screen for a while. To actually meet her in person and see her personality, she's just as funny as she is on the screen. I had a lot of fun. I love how Oikos had the idea to switch it up where she's pushing the train and I'm just sitting on it."

Henry also jumped at the chance to work with the company.

"I thought it was great because Oikos is packed with high protein, which I need to have strength and endurance to perform at a high level week in and week out whether it's on the field or off the field," he said.

"I'm just grateful for the partnership and being the athlete that's in the big spot for them with Kathryn Hahn, who is a big star. I'm just thankful for the opportunity, Oikos is a great brand."

The protein seemed to be working for Henry during Baltimore's Week 17 game against the Green Bay Packers when he was at his absolute best in a must-win game for his team with Jackson sidelined.

He put the team on his back with 36 carries for 216 yards and four touchdowns in the 41-24 victory and made plenty of history in the process. His 216 rushing yards were the most for any opposing player in Lambeau Field's history that dates back to 1957.

What's more, he passed Tony Dorsett to move into 10th place in NFL history for rushing yards and passed Adrian Peterson for fourth place on the league's all-time rushing touchdowns list. Henry also joined Jim Brown as the only players in NFL history with multiple games of 200 or more rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

"Those are guys I grew up idolizing," Henry said. "Any time my name is mentioned with those guys, I'm very appreciative. It's surreal for me. I'm very thankful and grateful. For me to be able to get to that point, it's a lot of teammates and coaches to thank who helped me reach those milestones. Hopefully we can continue to do great things."

▶️ Full Ravens-Packers Recap

04:17

The history-making performance put his legacy into perspective, especially since he continues to add to a resume that includes an Offensive Player of the Year and five Pro Bowl selections.

Entering the season, Henry had led the league in carries four different times and tallied more than 300 carries in four different seasons. One of those was in 2024 when he ran for 1,921 yards and a league-best 16 touchdowns.

The 2025 campaign was his age-31 season, and it was fair to wonder if he would finally slow down.

Instead, all he did was carry the ball 307 times for 1,595 yards and 16 touchdowns, which marked an eighth consecutive season with double-digit touchdowns and the fifth time in seven years he reached the 1,500-yard mark on the ground. He also played all 17 games for the third straight season.

At a time when running backs seemingly have short shelf lives, Henry continues to dominate. He's also not ready to reflect on all those accomplishments and remains full-steam ahead heading into his age-32 season.

"I'm still hungry, I still want more," he said. "I'll think about that stuff when I'm done playing and when I retire. But that's not happening anytime soon."

With Henry not thinking about retirement, Jackson still in place as one of the league's best quarterbacks and a new head coach with a defensive background arriving to improve a unit that was 24th in the league in yards allowed in 2025, the arrow is pointing up for the Ravens.

And Henry plans on hoisting the Lombardi Trophy as a result.