Andre Roberts has come alive the last two weeks, scoring a touchdown in back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 1-2 of the 2012 season.

He's hoping to continue that hot streak on Sunday against his former team – the Arizona Cardinals.

"I'm settling in just like you would think," Roberts told the media earlier this week. "I'll do what they ask me to do and I'll try to do it at a high level ... I expect to have a great game. It will be more exciting than any other game.

Roberts said there "will be high emotions" in his first trip back to Arizona since becoming a member of the Washington Redskins.

Taken by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Roberts spent his first four NFL seasons in Arizona, accumulating 182 receptions for 2,123 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.

After setting career highs in receptions (64), receiving yards (759) and touchdowns (five) in 2012, Roberts was hoping his numbers would continue to grow during the 2013 season.

But whether it was simply a reduction in targets or defenses honing in on him more, Roberts' numbers slightly dipped in his last season with Arizona.

"I [felt] like I was getting better, and I still feel like I'm getting better, so I had to take a little step back and I changed my role," Roberts said. "At the same time, I still produced and I still feel like I can get better — and I'm getting better as a professional. It was frustrating my last year not having the stats that I wanted, but we were winning at the time, so you couldn't be mad at that."

Through five games this season, Roberts has proven to be both a reliable receiving target and special teamer.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins – who connected with Roberts on touchdowns against the New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks – said Roberts is a "total professional."

"He works very hard, he is very intelligent, he understands his role, he understands the details of route running, he knows how to get open and he doesn't have a big weakness," he said. "He has great hands, he's got good speed, he can beat guys over the top, he can win versus zone coverage.

"He is a guy you have a lot of confidence in because you feel like he is very versatile as a receiver."

Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said that while he wishes Roberts was still a player he could use in his lineup; he's in a "heck of a good situation for him."

"He's a great kid, he's a fiery competitor and I love him," Arians told the D.C.-area media earlier this week. "He's just a super human being off the field and on the field. You're going to get everything you got. I know he's going to have his chinstrap tight this week and ready to go.

"He competes every week, but he'll have a little extra this week."

Redskins head coach Jay Gruden, meanwhile, said he's hoping to get utilize Roberts more as the season goes on.

"Yeah, he's been what we expected," he said. "You know, we really liked Andre on tape, especially 2012 when he really had a good year before Michael Floyd emerged. Then as a three at Arizona, we thought he was pretty good, not to mention we kind of visualized him as being a returner also.

"So, he's really been as expected and I think we can use him the more and more as the season goes on."

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