In a span of less than two months, Commanders rookie Brian Robinson Jr. has gone from gunshot victim to starting running back. After making his NFL debut on Sunday against the Titans, the third-round draft pick will take over as Washington's lead ball-carrier on "Thursday Night Football" against the Bears, according to NFL Media. Robinson's first start will come almost seven weeks after an attempted carjacking left him with multiple gunshot wounds.
The first-year Alabama product took 18 snaps in his debut, getting nine carries and picking up two first downs while rotating with Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic. He's been trending toward a No. 1 role since the summer, however, when the Commanders notably gave him first-team practice reps in place of Gibson, a former 1,000-yard rusher. It's possible, had Robinson not been hospitalized and sent to injured reserve because of his gunshot wounds, that he would've opened the year as the starter.
Now, the change is official after Gibson saw just three carries -- and was also out-snapped by McKissic, traditionally a third-down back -- against the Titans. McKissic still figures to be involved as a pass-catching option against the Bears, but Robinson could be in line for at least a dozen touches Thursday night, considering Gibson topped that mark in each of his first four starts of 2022.
"This is a young man that when I was talking to him in the trauma room, he was really despondent, but as he's gotten (back to the field), you've seen his spirit just come back to life every day, every day, every day," Commanders coach Ron Rivera said of Robinson's journey to this point, per NFL.com. "That's a really cool thing, it really is. To me, it's all based on his spirit, who he is as a young man."
