If you were one of those who thought running back Derrick Henry played his last game for Tennessee on Sunday, Titans general manager Ran Carthon cautions you not to jump to a premature conclusion.

It was definitely the last game as Tennessee’s coach for Mike Vrabel, who was fired on Tuesday.

“That will be the new head coach and I having a conversation,” Carthon said on Tuesday about Henry’s future with the Titans. “I had a really good conversation with Derrick yesterday on the way out. We had our conversation, which I’ll keep between he and I, but the door’s never closed.”

Henry reached the end of a four-year contract with Sunday’s game, but the former Alabama All-American said at his postgame press conference that he’d like to keep playing for Tennessee.

“Any player would love to play for one franchise their whole career,” Henry said. “And us getting so close like we did (in 2019) and not finishing it, that’s always going to be in the back of your mind. I want to bring a Super Bowl here really bad. That’s one of my main goals. No matter how I do during the season, just want to bring one here.

“Who knows what’ll happen? But at the end of the day, any player would want to play for the organization their whole career.”

So why would anyone think the Titans’ 28-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday would be Henry’s final game in a Tennessee uniform?

Maybe because he ran onto the field during player introductions blowing kisses to the fans.

“I was thinking about what I was going to do to show my love and show my grace,” Henry said. “I just wanted to let them know that I was recognizing them. Send my heart out to them and thank them for everything in any way possible whether it was blowing kisses or whatever it would have been.”

Maybe because after the game, Henry said it was “a great way to go out.” Did he mean out of the 2023 season or his time with Tennessee?

Henry had his most productive game of the season with 153 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries.

“It felt like the old days again,” Henry said. “A great way to go out, especially against a divisional opponent, an opponent that I grew up down the street watching, looking at and following as a kid growing up, so it was all kind of full circle. …

“It kind of felt like 2018 again when it all started.”

Maybe because of what he said about playing with quarterback Ryan Tannehill “one last time.” Tannehill also had reached at the end of his contract and has been replaced by rookie Will Levis. But with Levis sidelined by an injury on Sunday, Tannehill was back in the starting lineup.

“We just said, ‘One last time,’” Henry said. “That’s my brother. I love Ryan. … Tannehill’s always family to me.”

Maybe because he addressed the crowd from the middle of the field after the game and thanked the fans “for the greatest eight years of my life.”

“It was just a thank you to them,” Henry said at his postgame press conference. “I know how I worded it probably got blown out of proportion a little bit, but it was just a thank-you speech showing love to the fans. …

“They just told me after the game they wanted me to say something on the jumbotron, so it was just from the heart, off the top, kind of freestyled a little bit. Hope I did good. Hope y’all liked it.”

Maybe because, during his postgame press conference, Henry thanked the equipment staff, security personnel, kitchen staff (including “Bob with the avocados”), cleaning staff (who have to work when “the locker room smells like the Nashville Zoo”), social-media team and the team website’s reporter – all by first name.

Maybe because his postgame press conference included naming his favorite moment with the Titans. Henry chose his 99-yard run – the second in NFL history – in a 30-9 victory over Jacksonville on Dec. 6, 2018.

“That’s when it all started,” Henry said.

Henry would have been an unrestricted free agent in 2020, but Tennessee used its franchise tag on him to keep him off the open market, then worked out a four-year, $50 million contract with the running back, who delivered 5,669 yards and 52 touchdowns in 57 regular-season games during the deal.

Henry will become an unrestricted free agent on March 13 unless he re-signs with the Titans.

“This is the first time I’m actually a free agent,” Henry said. “I got tagged the first time I was supposed to be and then was able to negotiate something after that. I don’t know what it’s like. It’s my first time actually being a free agent. Just going to enjoy the time, talk to guys around the league who’ve experienced this before, get some advice. Talk to my team, and then go from there.”

Henry has one thing he particularly hopes to get out of his next contract – an NFL championship.

“When that time comes, we’ll evaluate and see what makes sense,” Henry said of his next contract. “I ain’t getting no younger, so I want a ring. I want to win the Super Bowl. … I’m in Year 8 now, so the Super Bowl is definitely my next goal, and that’s what I want to get, so however that comes and however I have to evaluate to get close to that, that’s what we’ll do.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.