James Robinson’s rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars was incredible. Despite being an undrafted free agent, he became one of the better running backs in the league, running for 1,070 yards on 240 carries with 10 total touchdowns.
Everything, it seemed, was breaking his way. He was finally able to show an ability he long felt was overlooked. Even though he was a record-setting running back in high school outside Chicago, he wasn’t flooded with scholarship offers and ended up at Illinois State. Even though he ended up totaling the second-most rushing yards in program history, he went unselected in the draft. But his career was finally coming together. Or so it seemed.
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Since then, though, almost nothing has gone as planned for Robinson.
After his stellar rookie season, the Jaguars fired head coach Doug Marrone. Even though new coach Urban Meyer already had Robinson, he drafted running back Travis Etienne in the first round, immediately bumping Robinson down in the depth chart. Then at the end of that 2021 season, Robinson suffered a torn Achilles, a brutal injury that required months of rehab.
After finally getting healthy and reclaiming his starting job with the Jaguars in 2022, the team shipped him off as, again, new coach Doug Pederson chose Etienne over him. He was traded to the New York Jets after a season-ending injury to their standout rookie, Breece Hall.
That didn’t go as planned either. The Jets felt Robinson had lost a step since the Achilles injury. Robinson had a difficult time contributing after joining New York in the middle of the season.
Either way, his time there didn’t end well. Robinson was made inactive in the final five games of the season. He finished with only 85 rushing yards over four games with the Jets.
“I would say not ideal,” Robinson, 24, said of his 2022 season. “I don’t really like moving around like that. It was kind of hard to find my role, really, and do what I can for the team that I was on.”
RB James Robinson’s smile reflects his belief that he’s landed in the right spot in New England.
“We felt like it was the right fit,” he said. pic.twitter.com/jbPQKFUn3T
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) May 11, 2023
Now, however, Robinson has a chance to build on the optimism with which his career began. The free-agent running back agreed to a contract with the Patriots this spring, landing with a team that both likes to run the ball and needs a complement to Rhamondre Stevenson now that Damien Harris has left for Buffalo.
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For Robinson, it’s an opportunity to prove, again, that he’s been overlooked. Coach Bill Belichick has a long track record of switching running backs if he feels there’s a more deserving option or a better fit against a certain opponent. Robinson believes he’s fully recovered from the Achilles injury and can run again like he did as a rookie.
For the Patriots, it’s a low-risk way to add a former 1,000-yard back who can spell Stevenson — particularly after he slowed down at the end of last season due to the large load he carried for the offense. New England signed Robinson to a two-year, $4 million contract, but it contains only $150,000 in guaranteed money. If the Patriots determine that Robinson has lost a step or if he is beaten out by second-year backs Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris, they can easily cut Robinson with little salary-cap penalty.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Robinson said Thursday in his first press conference since signing with the team. “I can’t wait for training camp to start. … I mean, coming off the Achilles (injury), there was a lot of talk of, ‘Oh he’s not going to be this, he’s not going to be that.’ But I felt like (at) the start of last year, when I came back, I was doing fine. I haven’t had a problem with it since.”
The Patriots don’t typically rely on a three-down running back — even if Stevenson could handle that role. They’d prefer a viable backup or two to emerge.
Late last season, the Patriots decided they couldn’t lean on Stevenson as much amid a large workload early without a healthy, dependable running back behind him. Over the first 12 games, Stevenson averaged 18 touches per game for 93 yards. Over the final five games, Stevenson averaged 12 touches per game for 68 yards.
Now Robinson will get a chance to prove he can be a solid No. 2 option behind Stevenson. For the Patriots, a running back in that role has often provided a boost as a pass catcher out of the backfield.
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During his breakout rookie season, Robinson caught 49 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns, a skill set he thinks remains.
“I feel like I do it quite naturally,” Robinson said. “When I get the opportunity for that, I feel like I make the most of them.”
There’s still a long way to go for Robinson, who is participating in the Patriots’ organized activities this month. Minicamp will come next month; training camp the month after that.
But in New England, Robinson has a chance to show he can still run like the overlooked rookie who notched more than 1,000 rushing yards just three years ago.
“I’m just doing what I can to help this team win,” Robinson said. “They’ve seen me play. Just trying to bring what I did in my rookie season here.”
(Photo: Brian Fluharty / USA Today)
Chad Graff is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New England Patriots since 2022 after five years on the Minnesota Vikings beat. Graff joined The Athletic in January 2018 after covering a bit of everything for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He won the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2022 Bob Oates Award for beat writing. He's a New Hampshire native and an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of New Hampshire. Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadGraff
