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TreVeyon Henderson’s hat-trick helps power Patriots to primetime victory

Just five days after a career performance, rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson helped power the New England Patriots to another victory Thursday night.

Playing a career-high 58 snaps as the Patriots remained without running back Rhamondre Stevenson, Henderson found the end zone twice on the ground in the first half. While the pair of scores did not come in the explosive fashion that they did last week in Tampa Bay, the back showcased his improving patience on inside runs — receiving some help from his teammates to power through for the second score.

“He’s executed, whether that’s a checkdown or a touchdown in the back of the end zone. No home runs tonight, but I thought he grinded out pretty much what was there,” head coach Mike Vrabel said. “He’s helped us a lot of ways tonight and saw the power push touchdown, which was really cool. So I’m happy every time that guys can help us and they can get into the end zone.”

Henderson capped off the hat trick with a third quarter receiving touchdown from Drake Maye, as he slipped behind the defense near the goal line to give New England the eventual game-winning touchdown.

With the score, he became the first rookie in franchise history with five touchdowns in a two-game span. Henderson also is the third rookie in franchise history with three touchdowns in a game (including playoffs), joining tight end Rob Gronkowski (2010) and running back Sony Michel (2018).

“He’s an awesome young player,” center Garrett Bradbury said. “I mean, everyone knows he can outrun you, but what people are seeing is he’ll run through your face too. I thought he had an awesome night, a lot of good energy.”

Through the three touchdowns and 93 scrimmage yards, Henderson’s best work came in the closing minutes. With New England needing just one first-down to before they could break into victory formation, three straight handoffs to the back picked up the necessary yardage.

“I would say the best couple of runs he had were there late in the game when it was tough sledding, and we’re in five-minute, and they know we’re going to run, and they’re blitzing and everything else. Looked like we were going to be short, and he’s able to knife through there and keep his pads down and pick up a huge first down,” Vrabel said.

After a slow start to his rookie season, patience has paid off for Henderson as the rookie continues to look more-and-more comfortable in recent weeks. Now with five touchdowns in his last five days, New England hopes the extra experience for the rookie will pay off down the stretch as him and Stevenson form a one-two punch in their backfield.

“I think it was a big time for him stepping up, and it’s been great for him to get all these reps, to keep getting these reps. He wants to be great. He’s just showing up every day and asking questions,” Maye said. “I think just continuing for him to keep going the oncoming weeks and know that him and Mondre and our backs, we can create a good one-two thing going. Looking forward to have Mondre back, but TreVeyon stepped up huge.”