The Rams didn’t make many notable additions in the offseason, but one of their biggest was the signing of A’Shawn Robinson to shore up the defensive line. He has yet to play a single snap with Los Angeles, however, after he was sidelined with a cardiovascular issue in August.
He missed all of training camp while on the non-football injury list, which has forced him to miss the first six weeks of the season, too. Robinson originally planned to opt out of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the Rams tweaked his contract to give him the option to play after starting the year on NFI.
Robinson is eligible to start practicing this week, and according to Sean McVay, he’s ready to get back on the field. On the Coach McVay Show with J.B. Long and D’Marco Farr, McVay said Robinson will practice this week and could make his Rams debut “maybe in the next couple weeks.”
“He has been doing a great job, getting a lot of work in with Coach Lovett and being on a strict regimen,” he said. “Now we’re looking forward to getting him back practicing this week and hopefully in the near future, maybe in the next couple weeks, we’ll be able to see him actually participate and play on game day. And we’ll obviously have to get him up and active for that, but it’ll be good to get him back practicing this week.”
The Rams signed Robinson after believing they had lost Michael Brockers to the Ravens. But after Brockers’ deal fell through, the Rams swooped in and brought him back to play alongside Robinson and Aaron Donald.
Now with Robinson on the verge of returning, the defensive line is getting crowded. But that’s a good problem, says McVay.
“With all those guys,” McVay said when asked where Robinson fits in. “You can’t have enough big bodies that have some position flex across the interior part of your front and that’s what he’ll reflect for us. It’ll be good to just get him out there and like anything else, kind of carve that role out for yourself based on how you perform. But his versatility, being able to play those interior spots all across the line is something we feel like can be a real positive.”
With the Lions, Robinson primarily played defensive tackle. His role in L.A. isn’t exactly clear, but he can line up essentially anywhere on the defensive line. He can rotate in at nose tackle with Sebastian Joseph-Day, relieve Brockers at defensive end or even sub in for Donald at 3-technique if needed.
The Rams have two more games before their Week 9 bye, and McVay didn’t say whether Robinson could return before or after the week off. But based on his comments, it seems as if there’s at least a chance Robinson will make his debut before the Rams get their break in Week 9.
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