Commanders Brian Robinson Jr. tested out his injured hamstring on the field before Sunday's game against the New York Giants in the Meadowlands, but after going through some warmups it was decided the running back would miss the game, which Washinton won 27-22 to improve to 7-2 on the season. Was the third-year running back close to playing?
“I was hoping to be ready to play on Sunday,” Robinson said during his weekly appearance Tuesday with 106.7 The Fan's The Sports Junkies, which is presented exclusively by our partners at MainStreet Bank — Cheer Local. Bank Local. Put Our Team in Your Office. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.
Robinson was seen speaking with Commanders head coach Dan Quinn before inactive came out and that was when the decision was made.
“The conversation coach and me was having was just regarding how I was feeling and we just kinda came to an agreement based off where I was and what the future looks like," Robinson told The Junkies. "And he made a decision that it was probably best for me to not go, and I was on the same page with him.
"It was just us out there trying to test my strength and where I was to see if it was a good decision for me to play."
Even when Robinson woke up in the hotel on Sunday morning he believed he would be able to go and didn't "check himself out" of being ready.
"I'm always gonna give myself the best chance to be available," he said. "I was hoping by the time I was able to get over to the stadium and did my preparation before I would go out that I would be feeling how I would I need to feel to play a game. And we went through some drills and different steps and we figured out where I was at and made the decision from there."
Robinson was initially believed to be trending toward playing in the NFC East battle, but ultimately, he and Quinn decided jointing ["we were on the same page with it"] was best to play it safe and sit for the second time in the last four games (previously a knee ailment sidelined him against Baltimore) to ensure that he would be ready for the long haul as Washington moves forward to try and lock down a division title and he expects to be back for Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I feel like those are kind of lingering things that correlate with each other, but it was definitely more on the hamstring side,” Robinson said of the knee injury. “Dealing with a hamstring, you have to be strict. You gotta kinda be strict on it and make sure you’re taking the proper steps as far as coming back.
"I feel like that is another reason why my time scale has been a bit more prolonged. Maybe I haven’t been taking those proper steps, and it’s about time that I started doing that.”
In his absence, Robinson came away impressed with the offensive line's performance as they continued to get "stronger and stronger" as the season went along and that helped Washington keep their lead in the NFC East, a winning run powered by the offense and a change in culture from the new regime.
"Honestly, I just feel like there's a lot of winning attitudes flowing around here," Robinson told The Junkies about the change in culture in Ashburn. "A lot of guys that wants to win, guys that been here that haven't won since they been here. And we finally get a coach, coaches with the same type of drive and [motivation] to just help us win. And everybody feels it in the building. Guys from outside the building, they obviously see it, they feel it when they play us, they feel our energy.
"It's contagious. I don't see how it can't be contagious. Anybody who is a true competitor or a true baller and wants to win and wants to be a part of a winning culture their eyes should be blowing up when they see us coming."
Catch the complete conversation between the running back and The Sports Junkies – and hear about his first thoughts on rookie quarterback Jayden Daneils and when he knew he would be special – on the audio player above!