When Derrick Henry is rolling downhill, you better watch out – even if you're one of his teammates.
Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar learned that lesson in the Ravens' Week 12 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, when Henry accidentally broke his teammate's forearm.
The play happened with five minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Ravens trying to finish off a win. Baltimore led, 30-16, at the time.
Kolar had a lead zone block alongside fullback Patrick Ricard, but when the tight end tried to turn his man, all 247 pounds of Henry's muscle rammed into them both.
"He kind of ran into my arm and pinned it on the guy's helmet and it broke," Kolar said. "It's not like it was his fault, but we like to mess with him about it."
Being the nice guy that he is, Henry apologized to Kolar, who landed on injured reserve and missed the next four games. Kolar returned with an arm brace last week against the Cleveland Browns and is ready to go for the playoffs.
"He's a great guy. I don't think he was heat-seeking my ulna," Kolar said with a chuckle.
"The dude is so big. Guys in football running full speed, it just happens. It was just a freak thing. Derrick is so good. I'll just make sure I get the hole a little bit wider. He obviously felt bad, but it's not his fault."
Here's the other crazy part of the story. Kolar didn't leave the game.
Kolar blocked with one arm on four straight run plays in his direction. He stayed in for the following punt and finished the game.
"It was a good go," Kolar said when asked how painful it was.
"I broke my fibula in college and played on that for like a week. I thought it was similar, but I'd never broken that arm before so I wasn't sure. I was pretty sure I broke it, but it was a close game, so I wanted to finish it and deal with it afterwards."
The Ravens X-rayed the arm after the game and sure enough.
"It'll be a good story," Kolar said with a smile.
