Jaguars can’t keep doing RB James Robinson wrong

After having the most productive campaign by an undrafted rookie in NFL history, you would think that the Jacksonville Jaguars would hold running back James Robinson in high regard. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case and he shared his thoughts about his lack of playing time in recent weeks.

Robinson has fumbled in each of the last two games and every time, he’s seen a dip in his workload even though he’s currently the Jaguars’ best running back. You could make the case he’s still not 100 percent after suffering a heel injury in Week 8 but the fact that he stopped getting playing time right after losing the ball makes it seem like he was benched. He recently had a sitdown with Action Sports Jax and said he did feel like he got benched.

"I will say so. Like I said last week, it can’t happen but when it happens, and then you’re out for that long, just kind of like you got to feel that way. I was just waiting for my chance to go back in the game and then it didn’t really come until the third quarter."

In Week 12, he only appeared in 52 percent of the Jaguars’ offensive snaps and that number went down in Week 13, when he played just 44 percent. In both instances, he stopped getting carries after fumbling the ball. Here’s the link to the video in case you want to watch the whole thing. And here’s the moment when Robinson shares his thoughts on the situation.

The Jaguars are Meyer must get James Robinson more involved on offense.

Meyer told the media Monday that Robinson isn’t getting judged more harshly than other players and maybe that’s the case but based on his workload in the past two weeks, the margin of error for him seems considerably smaller. Other Jaguars’ players have underperformed this season and none of them have abruptly stopped getting playing time.

The most frustrating thing about the situation is that Robinson gives the Jaguars a better chance to win and is a better and more complete running back than the alternative, Carlos Hyde. You could argue that Robinson isn’t fully healthy yet but he’s averaged four yards per carry in spite of the heel injury. Against the Falcons in Week 12, the former Illinois State Redbird was averaging five yards per carry but he only had 60 percent of the team’s total carries.

Similarly, Meyer said the coaching staff was monitoring Robinson’s health against the Los Angeles Rams. Yet, he was on the field when the game was already out of reach.  However you look at it, the team’s handling of the situation isn’t optimal and the head coach must do something about it. He can’t keep passing the buck to running backs coach Bernie Parmalee. As the leader of the team, he must have better oversight of the team, and right now, he’s failing in that regard.

Robinson isn’t the kind of player that wants the ball in every play and he will always do what’s best for the team. On the other hand, you will be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn’t be frustrated if they were in his shoes. The Jaguars don’t have a good record of track record of taking care of their difference-makers. They have to change the trend with Robinson.