Speaking for the first time this season, the Missouri defensive end was unsure if he would make his NFL debut Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks after a calf injury kept him sidelined.
“I’m taking it day by day,” Robinson said. “I’m just excited to meet later to watch the tape with my coaches and see where I can improve in practice today.”
Robinson’s return from the calf injury, which he suffered on August 22, has been three months in the making. He initially returned to practice on October 9, the day his practice window opened, but did not finish that session. He didn’t return to the practice field until Monday, but both he and coach Jonathan Gannon have said Robinson didn’t suffer any setbacks.
Robinson was activated to the 53-man roster on October 29 despite not being healthy or at risk of remaining on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
However, Robinson still said Wednesday that he was “heartbroken” last month to learn he wouldn’t be able to return at that time, adding that “we knew what the injury was and [what] the timeline was.”
“All I knew was that I had time to get better,” Robinson said. “It was a little long, but we knew what it was. So I’m excited for this moment because I really appreciate it more than ever because it was taken away from me for so long. I’m really excited to be back there.”
When asked if the plan was for him to return to practice on Oct. 9 to test his injury or if he thought he could use that day to push his NFL debut, Robinson didn’t have an answer.
“We were just trying to go to practice,” Robinson said. “We were just trying to get better that day. I don’t really have a full answer on that, but it just didn’t go well. [Wednesday] practice. But we’re here at practice on Wednesday, so I’m glad we made it to today and I’m really excited for the future.”
Gannon said Arizona will take “one day at a time” with Robinson’s practice reps, but said they feel good about the 27th pick in April’s draft returning to the field.
“It’s been a long time,” Gannon said. “He’s had a tough road. He had a tough injury and he’s working hard to get back out there. He wants to get back out there. He had a good week last week getting back out there. All those [medical] “People did a good job on it, so we’ll take it day by day.”
Arizona had two first-round picks after trading the No. 3 pick to the Houston Texans during last year’s draft. The Cardinals received Houston’s 2024 first-round pick (No. 27) and also received the 12th and 33rd picks in the 2023 draft, as well as a 2024 third-rounder. Arizona also gave the Texans a fourth-rounder in 2023.
The Cardinals selected wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth pick with their first pick in April.
Robinson hasn’t played a competitive game since the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29, 2023. But he said he’s not worried about being rusty because of the work he’s put in during rehab.
“People don’t realize when you’re injured, you work out, you lift weights and you run twice as hard as everyone else,” Robinson said. “But, at the end of the day, we have to go out and compete against someone else.
“So I’m not too worried. I just have to keep getting reps and having good practices.”
Robinson said he prepared every day while he was injured as he would have if he were playing, taking notes and taking walkthroughs. His goal is that every time he goes out on the field, there is no “setback.”
He said he is doing “very well” and has felt supported by his teammates, coaches, general manager Monti Ossenfort, owner Michael Bidwill and the Cardinals franchise.
“It means everything,” Robinson said. “These guys drafted me, so I owe them everything. Once I signed my contract, they brought me here, so I’m going to give my best every day and I’m very grateful.” “For them because they’re the same people from the draft room in Indy, so when we first met, I’m glad to have their support in all these things.”
