Finally healthy, Nick Henrich ready to make his mark
During his side podium session at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis, Nebraska head coach Scott Frost was asked if there was a player he was especially excited to see back on the field in fall camp.
While there were several to choose from, the first player who came to mind for Frost was redshirt freshman inside linebacker Nick Henrich.
"There's a lot of players on our team that just physically look better than they did a year ago," Frost said. "If I had to pick one, I'm really excited to see Nick Henrich play football this year at middle linebacker.
"A kid that we had a lot of confidence in when we recruited him, struggled through a few injuries early on, had a great spring. He and (Chris) Kolarevic and (Luke) Reimer are going to have to be our lead dogs at middle linebacker."
A former four-star recruit out of Omaha (Neb.) Burke in 2019, Henrich has always had the potential to be an impact player for the Huskers.
But a shoulder injury and then a knee injury has kept his development in a holding pattern over the past two years.
He was finally healthy enough to stay on the field in 2020, but COVID-19 threw a new wrench in his opportunity. Henrich played 206 snaps and finished the year with 27 tackles.
That was valuable game experience for Henrich, and he's used that as a jumping point for an impressive offseason thus far.
Inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud said that as long as Henrich can stay on the field, there was no ceiling for how good he could be when all was said and done.
"No. 1, Nick's got to stay healthy," Ruud said. "That's the biggest thing for him. He's a really natural football player, really intelligent, loves the game, is a great teammate. But his No. 1 deal is developing a routine that keeps him healthy, first and foremost. If he stays on the field, he's going to be a heck of a player."
Ruud said he'd been working a lot with Henrich to instill daily habits and routines to be more attentive to his body both before and after practices and workouts.
During his 12-year NFL career, Ruud quickly learned the importance of "pre-hab" to make sure his body was ready for the work on the field and then recover adequately afterward.
"He's doing pretty good so far," Ruud said. "We're four practices in. It's not 16 years, 200 straight games, or whatever. But he's doing good so far. He's a guy who loves the game and doesn't want to miss a rep."