Sometimes I don't even know why I try. Carson Palmer said that the Denver Broncos played Chris Henry well, making sure not to allow anything deep. Henry caught one of two targeted passes; the second being a Hail "please score a touchdown so we don't have to watch Brandon Stokley's touchdown all of the time on CBS" Mary. Marvin Lewis said that Henry's opportunities are limited and he'll get them when he gets them. That's why he only caught one pass; though it was one of three touchdown throws by Carson Palmer. We did hear a blurb about an injury from offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski earlier in the season, but that was that. So we bought Palmer's story. We bought Lewis' explanation.
However, is this just a matter of hiding an injury?
Joe Reedy writes:
Henry has been battling the nagging injury for four weeks. He said he felt something during warm-ups prior to the third preseason game against the Rams and has been receiving daily treatment since then.
“It’s coming along,” Henry said. “I hope it’s not going to be a season-long thing. I just have to stay on it. I’m not taking a week off. They told me if I just keep treating it like I do every day, two times a day if I have to, it get it better.”
Henry admitted that the quad injury has affected his play since he can’t open up on long routes. The injury started to affect him during last Sunday’s game against Green Bay, especially during the fourth quarter when he struggled going deep while being defended by Al Harris.
Henry took off Wednesday to rest his quad and returned to practice on Thursday in limited capacity. Geoff Hobson writes, "Henry was suited up in shoulder pads and shorts and running routes at the start of practice."
However if he wasn't hurt, we're not so confident that Henry would get a bigger role. Consider that Andre Caldwell, Chad Ochocinco and Laveranues Coles stand in his way. The best shot is that Coles goes through a string of games like he did against the Broncos, or an injury.