Michigan Football WR A.J. Henning's Role Continues To Expand
Michigan Wolverines football slot receiver A.J. Henning's role has grown by the week. The second-year freshman wound up taking over punt return duties in game three, and has played almost as many offensive snaps the last two weeks (36) than he did in the first four contests (42).
As he continues to progress, Henning took the bye week to look at all areas of his game, find the spots in which he can improve and get to work on them. Henning said the entire offense did the same, hoping to clean up different aspects of the game so that the second half of the season is smoother than the first.
"Every time we go back and watch the film, there are plays to be made that weren’t made on the field," he explained. "I feel like the bye week was a good chance to look back at the film and really key on those little things, like the little details that make the play go or little details that could be the difference maker in a play or a drive or anything of that nature. I feel like it was good for us to have this opportunity to have a bye week, and look at our little details and try to take those to the next level."
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Henning has averaged 11.6 yards per punt return, the second-best mark in the Big Ten, but his biggest hiccup has been ball security. Fortunately for the Wolverines, Henning was able to hang onto "joint possession" of the ball after a muff against Nebraska, and head coach Jim Harbaugh has alluded to the fact that catching punts was the biggest thing Henning needed to improve on before he took over the job in September.
"It’s a tough thing to do," Henning said. "You never really know until you try it, and some people make it look pretty easy, but it’s pretty hard. You’ve got to know the flight of the ball and what kind of ball is kicked, if it’s a left-footed or right-footed punter, so it’s pretty difficult. But like with anything, with practice and preparation, you get better at it.
"I just know in my preparation and details, I’ve just got to be better in that sense of judging the ball. I know my coaches have great belief in me, and my teammates have belief in me, so that makes me feel a lot better, being back there and being comfortable."
Offensively, Henning has excelled as a runner on end-around plays, carrying the ball four times for 100 yards and one touchdown. Creating separation down the field on pass plays has been one of the areas he's striving to improve, however. He has ran routes on 37 plays this season, with only three receptions for 36 yards.
"I just looked at my game as a whole, and took strides in the little details and little things as far as route running, blocking, anything I can," Henning said of the bye week.
The wide receivers went without second-year freshman Roman Wilson at Nebraska, but there's optimism he can return in the coming weeks. Minus a playmaker on the field, Henning said everyone in the receiver room is taking it upon themselves to be more involved.
"The offense without Roman, we were obviously down a guy, so guys have to step up and make more plays," he said. "I just feel like any chance, that’s just how we look at it — next man up. When one guy is down, your brother will pick you back up."
The Wolverines are 6-0 and ranked No. 6 in the nation, but they haven't forgotten that they were unranked heading into the season with little expectation from outsiders.
"Going into each week, that’s our mindset — 1-0," Henning said of the team continuing to play the underdog role. "We look at it as a faceless opponent. Each week, we know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot, so we have to prepare accordingly and be prepared.
"I feel like that was our mentality going into it, and we’re going to stick with that even though we’ve had success. We’re not going to pat ourselves on the back yet. We’re going to keep working and getting better, and that’s just the mindset of everybody here."
The Maize and Blue are set to take on Northwestern this week in what could serve as a trap game before a potential top-10 showdown at Michigan State Oct. 30. That said, they're not looking past of the Wildcats, Henning insisted.
"We’re not overlooking them at all," he said. "We know they’re a great football team. They’re going to come in here and give us their best shot. We’re going to take necessary preparation to try to have a successful outcome."
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