Doug Pederson Explains James Robinson's Non-Involvement vs. Giants
Where did James Robinson go on Sunday?
That is the question many Jacksonville Jaguars fans asked after Sunday's 23-17 loss to the New York Giants. On a day where the Jaguars totaled 452 yards and ran 65 plays, Robinson touched the ball zero times.
The one time he did get a carry was negated for a penalty. His lone target in the passing game came in the first-half. And his first snap of the day wasn't even until the end of the first quarter, with Trevor Lawrence, Zay Jones and JaMycal Hasty all recording carries instead.
Two years ago, Robinson was a 1,000-yard rusher and the best player on the team. And before a foot injury last season, Robinson was producing like one of the best backs in the NFL.
Fast forward to Week 7, though, and Robinson was not even a factor in a game where the Jaguars gashed the Giants on the ground. The lack of any Robinson at all left many to wonder where he was, with he instead watching from the sidelines or stretching off to the side instead of taking carries, such as on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 on one of the Jaguars' final drives that resulted in a turnover on downs.
"Yeah, something we have to evaluate him and see where he is at physically health-wise and all of that," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the game.
"He has been good each week and something that we've got to really take a look at and see. We know T.J. [Travis Etienne, Jr.] has done a nice job kind of taking over there, but we need everybody. We need James, and we've got a lot of confidence in James still. It's not anything about lack of confidence or anything. We just have to make sure he is 100% before we move forward.
It was an interesting answer from Pederson considering Robinson has not showed up on the injury report once this season, but it is worth remembering he sustained an Achilies injury at the end of last season.
Still, Robinson started the season as the team's No. 1 running back, but the last three weeks has seen him lose the role to Etienne, who had his first career touchdown and 100-yard rushing day with a 114-yard game on Sunday. Now, it looks like he is taking a back seat.
But for as good as Etienne was, he still had a critical mistake on Sunday as he fumbled at the Giants' five-yard line, leading to a Giants field goal and a 10-point swing. But despite the first-half fumble, the Jaguars never went away from him.
"He played well. Played tough, physical. Obviously, he can't do that. He knows that. It's something we work on each week in practice Thursday," Pederson said.
"We do a ball security drill, a little circuit with them. Listen, that's where we're at as a team right now is we're just learning things the hard way, you know? I think plays like that change the outcome of a lot of different things. We just have to keep hanging together and keep working. Just like I told the guys after the game, we do that, stick together, you know, good things are going to happen for them and we'll get it flipped around."
