Jaguars HC Doug Pederson looking forward to seeing James Robinson

A video of Jacksonville Jaguars running back James Robinson sprinting recently popped on social media. While this might seem like a mundane, mechanical activity for NFL players, this was noteworthy became the former Illinois State Redbird suffered a torn Achilles late in the 2021 season.

Having the ability to run the way Robinson did in the video is a meaningful milestone in his recovery and head coach Doug Peterson can’t wait to have him back. He spoke to the local media Monday and was asked about Robinson and his rehab. Based on his comments, things are looking up for the running back.

"Those kind of things, I don’t see them because they’re not out on the field. I hear about those things and I’m excited to see him do that. It just shows the progression of where he’s health-wise. And really looking forward to down the road, when we get him back. All of that is exciting, knowing that he’s heading in the right direction."

Here’s the whole exchange if you want to give it a look.

Jaguars RB James Robinson is ready to bounce back in 2022

The 2021 season was one Robinson would surely want to have back. Despite the fact that he was one of the Jaguars’ best offensive players, former head coach Urban Meyer didn’t deem it necessary to get him involved. He never carried the ball more than 18 times per game and was consistently underused. But the straw that broke the camel’s back was when he was benched for fumbling the ball. Meyer denied giving the order and instead blamed running backs coach Bernie Parmalee.

After he was fired, Meyer did concede to ordering the staff to bench Robinson, which is egregious when you take into account that he was one of the top NFL running backs in both traditional and advanced statistics at the mid point of the season.

Robinson still has a long way to go but once he’s back, he will be part of a backfield tandem along with Travis Etienne. It’s uncertain how Pederson and the coaching staff will want to split the workload then and the truth is that it’s too early, as Robinson isn’t fully healthy yet, having two talented players sharing the load will help them keep both of them fresh as the season progresses.

The Jaguars can afford to wait for Robinson because of Etienne’s presence but once he’s back, they could have the potential to become a dynamic one-two punch.