James Robinson proved his NFL skills in his first two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but there were still question marks about his abilities heading into Week 1.
After tearing his Achilles late in the 2021 season, Robinson missed some time in training camp and sat out all four of the Jaguars’ preseason games. So even though Jaguars coach Doug Pederson was confident that Robinson would be good to go for the opener, he still said Wednesday that the two-touchdown performance on Sunday proved a lot.
“More than anything it solidified who James Robinson is for us,” Pederson said. “I’ve seen him on tape, but we didn’t really see him much in preseason other than practice late. What he was able to do excited you moving forward, and we knew what [Travis Etienne Jr.] is and was because of his ability to play in preseason. It’s good to have two different runners like that, mix your run game up, mix the play-action pass game up, screen game or whatever it might be with two guys like that.”
The duo of Etienne and Robinson combined for 113 rushing yards on 15 carries against the Washington Commanders with the latter scoring touchdowns on an 11-yard rush and a 3-yard reception.
On Wednesday, Pederson said the decision to hand the ball off to the dynamic pair of rushers just 15 times didn’t bother him because the team found scoring chances, regardless.
“When you look at the game and how it kind of unfolded, we had opportunities to hit those guys even in the passing game to make plays,” Pederson said. “First opening drive of the game, we just missed Travis in the endzone. Missed him on a fourth down. Those are touches. Those are opportunities to put the ball in their hands. I’m a believer, too, that you throw to score in this league, and you run to win. We did some things, put ourselves in position to score at least 17 in the first half.”
Robinson rushed for 1,837 yards and 15 touchdowns in his first two seasons with the Jaguars along with 80 receptions for 566 receiving yards and three touchdowns.