The good news is that Arizona Cardinals rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson has had two consecutive days of practice this week and finally appears on track to make his debut sooner rather than later.
However, the mystery and shifting narratives during the three-month saga since Robinson suffered a calf injury on Aug. 22 could have been avoided if the team had simply gotten ahead of the story and been consistent while also adhering to the NFL media policy, which mandates that “clubs must ensure that all medical information issued to the media is credible, responsible, and specific in terms that are meaningful to teams, media, and fans.”
There are many times when little information is communicated. And there are occasions when head coach Jonathan Gannon is open about injuries when asked, as he did recently when guard Isaiah Adams wasn’t able to play against the Jets after his back locked up prior to the game.
In other instances, he does volunteer information, which oddly is what led to the questioning concerning Robinson’s original return to practice on Oct. 9 and then resulted in some eyebrow-raising comments made by the player when he spoke to the media after practice Wednesday, the first time that has happened since training camp.
Going back to the Oct. 9 Wednesday, in the portion of practice open to the media, Robinson merely watched his teammates participating in individual drills. The media leaves after those are completed and on that day’s injury report, Robinson was listed as limited, which was surprising considering he did nothing in those individual drills.
However, it is important to note that the practice status is different for players on injured reserve than those on the active roster.
The following day, Robinson was listed as not practicing, which never changed until yesterday (he did practice during the bonus day Monday when there is no injury report), a period that did include the passing of his mom while still in the 21-day window of IR practice participation. There was an unknown amount of days where Robinson was not with the team and surely contributed to the long delay in practicing.
On the Week 8 injury reports, a notation of “personal” was added to the calf injury. The following week, the word “personal” was removed.
What led to some confusion is that Gannon revealed without being asked on Oct. 11 that Robinson had experienced a “little bit of discomfort” and that the team would be “smart” with him moving forward.
Then, on Nov. 8, two days before the game against the Jets and 11 days after he was activated from injured reserve, Gannon was asked point-blank if Robinson had suffered a setback. He said simply, “No.”
That seemed to contradict what had been said about “discomfort.” While some might not interpret that as a setback, the fact that he did not practice after it happened says otherwise.
Robinson stuck with the “no setback” theme Wednesday.
Asked if he expected to be out as long as he was when the injury occurred, Robinson said, “Not really.”
However, he followed that with, “I mean with injuries anything can happen. We didn’t have any setbacks or anything. We knew the timeline when I got hurt. So we just took it one day at a time and got better each day.”
When asked if that Oct. 9 practice was a “test day” or if he hoped it would lead to him coming back and being able to play, he said, “I don’t really have the full answer on that. It just didn’t go well that practice. But we’re here at this Wednesday practice, so I’m glad we made it to this day and just super excited for the future.”
Robinson also described it as “heartbreaking for the first couple days” after the injury originally occurred because it came so close to the season opening two weeks from then and said, “But then again we knew the timeline of the injury.”
If that’s truly the case, it begs the question why he returned to practice when he did.
He insisted several times there were no setbacks, apparently to support the narrative advanced by the organization and perhaps believing if he said it enough that would make it true.
Still, as the Cardinals return from the bye leading the NFC West with a 6-4 record, that’s all in the past, and Robinson was naturally glad to be back on the field.
He repeated, “Like I said, we didn’t have any setbacks, we knew what the injury was and the timeline was, but I’m just glad to go to practice today. Like you really cherish those moments more than ever when it’s taken away from you.”
He did address the challenges he faced both physically and mentally with the injury and loss of his mom and was thankful for the ongoing support from so many, including owner Michael Bidwill, general manager Monti Ossenfort and Gannon.
“It’s been a lot of ups and downs,” he acknowledged. “I just pray about it. I have great teammates who support me. Everyone on the Cardinals from Mr. Bidwill, Monti, JG, my coach (Derrick LeBlanc); everyone’s done everything to support me and I’m just so thankful for them. Nick (defensive coordinator Nick Rallis). I’m in a good headspace and excited for today.
“It means everything. These guys, they drafted me, so I owe them everything once I signed my contract and they brought me here. So I’m gonna give my very best each and every day and I’m so thankful for them because they’re the same people from the draft and from Indy when we first met. So I’m just glad to have that support.”
Robinson also said during his ordeal many players texted and checked in with him.
Now, it’s a matter of when he will be active for the first time this season. Will that be Sunday?
“I don’t know man,” Robinson said. “I’m just taking it one day at a time. I’m just excited for the meeting later to watch the tape with my coaches and see where I can get better at from today’s practice.
“It’s been a long time. I haven’t played since the Cotton Bowl (except for 10 snaps in one preseason game). At the end of the day, I’m just on my journey right now and whatever we see as best for the team, I’m gonna do. I’m just focused on being the best Darius I can be today.”
A large part of that is the legendary prep he does, which Robinson talked about immediately after he was drafted and then later to the local media.
It’s no surprise that not being able to practice or play for nearly three months didn’t affect his attention to detail.
“I’ll show you my notebook,” he said. “It was awesome and more exciting because I was able to see from a fan’s perspective, but also see, ‘This is how what Budda (Baker) does and just see how he operates and see how the team operates.’ So I still took my notes like I was playing.
“I still did walkthroughs like I was playing. So that when it is time for me to go, there aren’t any hiccups. And then also seeing the great players around me here at the Cardinals go through their process. I’m just super-excited.”
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