HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are getting more out of their rookies than any other NFL team, especially on offense.
Rookie running back James Robinson has been impressive so far this season, becoming just the seventh player in NFL history to total at least 90 yards from scrimmage in each of his first four NFL games.
Undrafted out of Illinois State, Robinson earned NFL Rookie of the Month honors for September. He's started all four games and leads Jacksonville with 285 rushing yards and 446 scrimmage yards, which is the fourth-most among active rookies.
Robinson and wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. have combined for 690 scrimmage yards through four games, the most for a rookie combo since Eric Dickerson and Otis Grant for the 1983 Los Angeles Rams.
Jaguars rookies have played a combined 13,58 snaps this year (409 snaps on offense; 546 snaps on defense; 403 snaps on special teams), the most of any rookie class in the NFL this season.
The 707 scrimmage yards gained by Jaguars rookies this season is the most by any rookie class through the first four weeks of a season over the last 35 years.
Compare that to the Texans, whose rookies have been featured in limited roles this season. They only had five picks, none of them in the first round.
The two rookies on offensive -- tackle Charlie Heck and wide receiver Isaiah Coulter -- have yet to take a snap. Coulter is recovering from a neck injury suffered during training camp.
The three rookies on defense -- DT Ross Blacklock, outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard and cornerback John Reid -- have seen some action but made little to no impact.
In Week 3 against the Steelers, no Texans rookie played a single snap on the offensive or defensive side of the ball. It was the first time this ever happened in franchise history.
"I think for those guys, I talked to Ross Blacklock (Thursday) and to this point he's gotten about a full game's worth of reps. In a normal year, he has that after the second preseason game," Texans defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said. "So, we're still trying to work with him. He's got to learn. He's got to work on his fundamentals and technique. That's every rookie across the board, whether it's Ross Blacklock, John Reid, Jon Greenard. Those guys have so many reps that they've missed out on and repetition in this league is the mother of skill. So, we can throw them out there and you can live through their growing pains, but you've got to realize that those growing pains are going to cost you.
"When the margin of error is so slim in this league, sometimes you're a little bit hesitant in throwing those guys out there and kind of living through that. We're trying to give them the reps that they need in order to be successful in this league. As they mature and they learn and they grow, they'll only get more."
