Doug Pederson Says Jaguars Weren't Shopping James Robinson Ahead of Trade to Jets

Two days ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars agreed to trade James Robinson to the New York Jets, just six weeks after he opened the season as the clear-cut No. 1 running back.

On Wednesday, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson explained why the Jaguars dumped Robinson just seven games into the season, with the first-year head coach noting the Jaguars weren't openly shopping the former 1,000-yard rusher.

"Not at all," Pederson said when asked if the Jaguars were making calls to other teams about Robinson.

“I’m not going to get into all the details with it, but I’ve got a lot of respect for James and what he’s done and what he’s done for me and the organization. I wish him well. It’s an opportunity for him," Pederson said. "Obviously the Jets lost a running back, and it’s honestly the nature of our business. Teams begin to search, and we got a call on him, and made the decision to move on.”

Robinson, 24, played in 35 games for the Jaguars from 2020-22 and rushed 485 times for 2,177 yards and 18 touchdowns. As a rookie in 2020, he gained 1,414 scrimmage yards, the most by an undrafted rookie in NFL history.

The trade was made official two days after Robinson played just 12 snaps for the Jaguars and didn't receive a single carry. Pederson had previously expressed earlier on Monday confidence in Robinson, but hours later he was off to the Jets following Breece Hall's injury.

"It was Monday. I don’t know the timing of the call because Trent (GM Trent Baalke) gets those calls, but it was Monday after we had met with the players and everything else that day," Pederson said.

"Teams are looking and teams have needs. Like I said, it’s a great opportunity for James to go in there and be the guy. For us, it’s not only an opportunity not only for JaMycal (Hasty) but also for Snoop (Conner). Get him going.”

As Pederson noted, this isn't the first time a previous starter has been traded during the season. While it isn't an exact comparison, he notes the Eagles made a similar trade when he was Philadelphia's head coach in 2016.

"One thing that I know that you don’t know is that there’s a lot of information. I’m not going to divulge all the information; it’s for me to know and for us to know and all the details on that. I went through this in 2016. We traded Sam Bradford, our starting quarterback, to Minnesota Week 1 of the regular season and went with the rookie quarterback in Carson (Wentz)," Pederson said.

"I’ve been through this before. This is just the way our league is right now. Teams are constantly searching. We just picked up a defensive corner that should be here later today from another roster. There are all things that play into everything."

With Robinson no longer in the fold, the Jaguars are set to have Travis Etienne step into the No. 1 running back role on a full-time basis, with JaMycal Hasty now being promoted to the No. 2 running back role. Meanwhile, fifth-round rookie running back Snoop Conner will go from healthy scratch to No. 3.

“You’re not going to see anything different from TJ. He’s going to continue to do the same things he’s been doing, it’s just that he’ll have an opportunity to play a little bit longer in a game," Pederson said.

"I still want to keep him from taking all the load, keep him healthy for the entire season. That’s why JaMycal will increase his load just a little bit, and it’s our job as a staff to make sure that Snoop is ready to go, too.”