Amik Robertson could recharge the Energizer Bunny. He could give Red Bull wings. He's been one of the smallest players on the field from the moment he started playing football, and in his own mind one of the biggest. He's 5'9 and standing tall.
"I knew it was gonna be like this when I was in high school and I would tell people, 'I'm going to the NFL,'" Robertson said. "They would look at me and I didn't pass the eye test. So what I did was, I just played bigger, and now I’m here."
He shook his head at those who doubted him and reiterated, "Now I’m here."
Last Friday, Robertson was shaking his head at himself. He felt he let an interception get away the week prior against the Vikings on a pass that sailed just over his fingertips. It would have been the first pick of the season for Detroit's corners, with hundreds of push-ups now on the line. Knowing that he doesn't see as many targets in the slot as Carlton Davis III and Terrion Arnold do on the outside, Robertson took a more proactive approach to changing the game this week.
"If I can’t get opportunities to go out there and get picks, I go out there and hunt the ball. I haven’t been punching at it the past couple weeks, but I told myself, man, you gotta get back to your style of playing football," Robertson said.
With the Lions pulling away from the Titans midway through the third quarter on Sunday, Robertson and Davis III had star receiver Calvin Ridley blanketed on an end-around. Robertson jarred the ball out of Ridley's arms with a heavy right-hand hook, and Davis picked up the goods. Three plays later, the Lions were in the end zone with a 49-14 lead.
In the locker room after the rout, Kerby Joseph couldn't help but smile. He said Robertson came back to the sideline after the punch-out and said, "I'm getting the second one." Robertson struck again early in the fourth quarter on tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo, who has six inches and more than 50 pounds on the Lions' nickel. With another right-handed fist, Robertson created the fourth takeaway of the game for Detroit.
"That boy said he crazy now, y’all better watch out," Joseph said. "He say he crazy. I feel like Meek, man, that’s just everything we talk about. He has some teach-tape punch-outs. Shoutout to him. I see the work he put in all practice, and I just knew this game he’s gonna get one."
In the interception column, the Lions corners are still at zero. (The defense is at 10, tied for second most in the NFL, thanks to nine from Joseph and Brian Branch.) But the picks will come, said Dan Campbell. "The ones you've got to work on are the punch-outs, man, the intention to it, finding, locate, hit it, get it out, grabbing the front of the ball, grabbing the hand, pulling, scraping." The Lions start every practice with a takeaway circuit to sharpen their claws.
"This game is about the ball," said Robertson.
Aaron Glenn knows that. He hunted it for 15 years in the NFL as a three-time Pro Bowl corner. He was 5'9 and played under his opponent's chin on every snap. The Lions saw the same scrappiness in Robertson during his time with the Raiders and imported him this offseason on a two-year, $9.3 million deal. Asked if he sees himself in his defensive coordinator, Robertson smiled and said, "When I talk to AG, I feel it."
"I think it’s that short man’s syndrome. People thinking we're small, but we're aggressive guys, man," Robertson said. "I know a lot of people don’t really see it because ain’t too many plays come my way a lot, but when it’s there, people see the feistiness, the aggressiveness I play with."
Robertson was a part of one winning team in four seasons with the Raiders, and was inactive for their lone playoff game. In Detroit, he finds himself on a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The Lions are off to a 6-1 start and boast a top-10 scoring defense. They've held opposing quarterbacks to the second lowest passer rating (77.2) in the NFL.
While Robertson is grateful to the Raiders "for giving me the chance to showcase my talent in the NFL, as far as being on a different team and the atmosphere, man, it’s been great."
"The Lions took me in with open arms, they believe in me," he said. "They let me be myself within the scheme, I fit the defensive scheme good, so I’m happy, man. And on top of that, we're winning and having fun. And that’s what the game’s about."
On defense, it's about the ball -- "and that's my identity," said Robertson. "I'm a ballhawk. No matter what they say, that’s what I do, man."