The Vikings upgraded their talent at linebacker and changed defenses. That meant E.J. Henderson’s starting job was in jeopardy — until he started playing this summer. Then Henderson, who starred at Maryland, started making plays and cemented his place in the starting defense. It helped, too, that first-round pick and fellow Chad Greenway suffered a season-ending injury, ending Henderson’s main competition at weakside linebacker.
Still, Henderson, in the final year of his contract, did his part to win the job after playing middle linebacker his first two years. He switched to the weakside last season.
“He had an excellent training camp,” Raiders coach Brad Childress said. “He flashed in some area every day. He’s active and he has good instincts and he’s generally around the football.”
Fellow linebacker Napoleon Harris told the St. Paul Pioneer Press, “At [weakside] linebacker you have to be a little bit quicker, more athletic and more disciplined. Those are the things [Henderson] really worked on in the offseason.”
For Henderson, it’s a good chance to be known as something other than a disappointment since being drafted in the second round of 2003.
Henderson knows what is expected of him.
“Just do what you got to do,” he told the Pioneer Press, “and make the plays you’re supposed to make. Don’t try to make something happen at the expense of the call.”
