Brad Robbins Discusses Rough Bengals Debut: 'I Signed Up For' AFC North Weather

CINCINNATI — Brad Robbins had an NFL punting debut to forget on Sunday as he exited Week 1 with the second-lowest average punt distance in the league (40.9 yards per punt).

To make matters worse, he punted three more times than any punter to open the season. It mixed to give rough field position for Cincinnati's defense across most of the 24-3 loss to Cleveland.

Grip through the rain was a clear issue for Robbins, who didn't make any excuse for his performance on Monday.

"There's always conditions," Robbins said about the weather. "I mean, we're in the frickin AFC North. I'm not gonna say anything about the conditions because this is what I signed up for. This is the division I want to be in so I've played in plenty of conditions in college over six years. So it's time to call on that and be productive in that environment."

Cincinnati got rid of Drue Chrisman for some of the same issues Robbins displayed on Sunday. The special teams must be better for Cincinnati to reach its top goal this season: Winning a Super Bowl.

"Being able to kind of flush those bad things and limit those mistakes moving forward and capitalizing on the next opportunities," Robbins said about his takeaways from the game. "That was really the bottom line there."

"In all facets I expect to be better" Bengals rookie punter Brad Robbins after Sunday's 10-punt performance in Cleveland pic.twitter.com/juXu9WN42u
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) September 11, 2023