|
DAVIE, Fla. -- His nickname is "Shoelace." But to the Miami Dolphins, Denard Robinson is the dynamic player their defense must be wary of when they travel to face the 1-6 Jacksonville Jaguars. The Deerfield Beach, Florida, native is finding his way at the NFL level. Jacksonville, for the first time in Robinson's career, gave the versatile player 22 carries at running back, and he produced a career-high 127 rushing yards and a touchdown in an upset win over the Cleveland Browns. Robinson played quarterback at the University of Michigan. He was drafted in the fifth round in 2013 despite not having a set position. Jacksonville only would label him an "offensive weapon," as Robinson played receiver, Wildcat quarterback and now running back in the past two years. “He’s a football player. That’s the one thing you’ve got to be impressed about him,” said Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin. “That’s a term we like to use around here. I think he’s tough, he’s a hard guy to bring down. I like the way he plays the game.” Robinson looked the part of an NFL running back last week. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry against Cleveland and grinded out those yards. Robinson’s longest rush was for 20 yards. Jacksonville asked Robinson to put on weight in the offseason and he hasn’t lost his speed. “I put on 15 pounds just to be able to take the pounding and just take the hits. ... be able to make guys miss and be able to deliver a blow sometimes,” Robinson explained on a conference call with the Miami media Wednesday. “That’s the reason why I put on the weight. They asked me to do that, and I was down for it.” The Dolphins (3-3) are making it a point not to overlook the Jaguars this week. Jacksonville’s offense is ranked 28th, near the bottom of the league. But Robinson is one of the few offensive players who can break open the game for the Jaguars. Look for Miami’s defense to key on Robinson and potentially stack the box more than usual with a rookie quarterback (Blake Bortles) under center. “He can definitely take it to the house. We saw that at Michigan,” Dolphins outside linebacker Jelani Jenkins said of Dennard. “He will run it 80 yards easily. But he put on weight and most of that has to do with his heart and passion for the game and to keep fighting.”
|
