Some NFL veterans are making the most of second chances. Or even their fourth or fifth.
Derrick Henry looks just as good at 30 years old in a Baltimore Ravens uniform as he did as a twentysomething franchise player in Tennessee and Saquon Barkley is tearing it up in Philadelphia with a visit coming up in October to the Meadowlands to face his former teammates with the New York Giants.
For Sam Darnold, his fourth stop on an NFL journey that began as a baby-faced 20-year-old is proving the charm and ageless Joe Flacco is still slinging it now with his fifth team.
It’s not like Henry was washed up when he bid a fond farewell to the Titans and their fans followng his final game at Nissan Stadium in a Tennessee uniform eight months ago, but he’s making north of 30 look just as good as he did in his 20s.
Henry took the Ravens’ first offensive snap 87 yards to the end zone for the longest touchdown run in franchise history Sunday night, the bellwether burst in a 199-yard performance that propelled the Ravens to a 35-10 shellacking of the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills that served the NFL’s biggest statement in Week 4.
The 247-pound Henry reached 21.29 mph on the run according to NFL NextGen Stats. That ties the fourth-fastest speed by a ball carrier this season.
For good measure, Henry caught his first touchdown pass since 2019 and now has half a dozen touchdowns in four games for Baltimore, half of what he had in his final season in Nashville.
Not bad for a guy four months shy of his 31st birthday, 18 yards short of 10,000 for his career and just five trips to the end zone from an even 100.
The fountain of youth, which seems to have soaked Darnold in Minnesota and fellow 27-year-old Barkley in Philadelphia, also splashed Flacco, four months shy of 40 and light years since his days as Baltimore’s franchise ironman.
Flacco, that rare star-turned-backup, came off the bench in relief of an injured Anthony Richardson to lead the Indianapolis Colts past the previously unblemished Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24.
On his fourth team since his split from the Ravens after the 2018 season, the league’s reigning Comeback Player of the Year threw for a pair of touchdowns against a Steelers team he’s beaten 11 times as a starter.
Flacco went 16 of 26 for 168 yards and two touchdowns — double what Broncos rookie Bo Nix has in four full games so far.
When CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala asked him afterward if he ever ages, Flacco replied, “When you’re out here in this environment, no. You feel like you’re 12 years old.”
When Kinkhabwala told him, “Anthony Richardson told us that you were cooler than he thought,” Flacco retorted: “Listen, he told me that his mom is eight days older than I am. So, there’s no chance in the world that he thinks I’m cool.”
NBC analyst Chris Simms sure does.
“How about Joltin’ Joe?” Simms cracked on “Football Night in America.” “Does this guy ever get old? Does his arm ever wear out? He’s throwing lasers all around.”
Looking young again.
Like Henry in Baltimore, Darnold in Minneapolis and Barkley in Philly.
Henry is averaging 6 yards per carry with the Ravens, well ahead of his already impressive 4.7-yard career average.
Barkley, selected second overall in 2018 between Baker Mayfield, who found a home in Tampa Bay last year in his fourth NFL stop, and Darnold, is averaging just shy of 6 yards a run for the Eagles.
That’s also well ahead of his 4.4-yard average with the Giants, who let him get away in free agency only to join a division rival. Barkley’s four touchdown runs put him on pace to top the career-best 11 times he scored during his rookie season with the Giants in 2018.
Darnold has positioned the Vikings (4-0) as the NFL’s September Surprise after leading Minnesota to a 31-29 win at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Darnold spent a year under the tutelage of Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco before signing a one-year, $10 million deal with Minnesota. He’s completing 68.9% of his throws, a significant jump from his career average of right around 60%.
Of course, not all of the league’s graybeards are looking so green.
Aaron Rodgers looked every bit of his 40 years in a 10-9 loss to Denver on a sloppy, soggy afternoon at the Meadowlands where he was held without a touchdown pass.
“The weather sucked,” Rodgers said. “But so did some of my throws.”
That might serve as an apt description of the play around him, too.
The Jets were whistled for 15 penalties, including five false starts. which brought into question whether Rodgers’ cadence — something the quarterback has used to his advantage his entire career to confuse defenses — is an issue for his own offense.
After the game, coach Robert Saleh questioned “whether or not we’re good enough or ready to handle all the cadence.” Rodgers called the five pre-snap penalties “an outlier” and suggested that while adjusting his cadence is “one way to do it,” he added: “The other way is to hold them accountable.”
That echoes Rodgers’ criticism of his teammates in his waning days in Green Bay, when he often lamented the inexperience of his much younger supporting cast.
Rodgers limped off the field late in the game after a sack that brought back some bad memories of the four-time MVP tearing his left Achilles tendon four snaps into his Jets debut last year.
Rodgers said he was “banged up” and both legs were dealing with “stuff,” but he insisted he was OK. He plans to take the field Sunday for his 30th career start against the Vikings.
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With contributions from AP Pro Football Writer Dennis Waszak Jr.
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