He's back.
The Washington Commanders have activated running back Brian Robinson Jr. from the Non-Football Injury list, and he will be available for Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans.
The move comes after the Commanders designated Robinson to return to practice five weeks after suffering two gunshot wounds during an attempted robbery in Washington, D.C. It was determined that Robinson would "apparently not initially" have any limitations, head coach Ron Rivera said Monday, but the team intended to monitor him and see how he handled the workload.
The resulted, it seems, came back positive.
"He had good week," Rivera said Friday afternoon. "This morning, he was there and he was in good shape. So, we're pretty fired up."
The activation is the peak of an incredible comeback story for Robinson, who attacked his recovery and progressed at an impressive pace. He was going through agility drills just 18 days after sustaining the injury and undergoing successful surgery, and that eventually led to him running routes and catching passes before the Commanders' Week 3 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
On Wednesday, Robinson showed the same traits that impressed many during training camp. After practice, Robinson said his return was "beautiful."
"It's been a long five weeks, but it's a lot of work," Robinson said. "We put in a lot of work over that time, and I could say I did everything I needed to do over that time period to make sure I was here today."
Robinson described the moments after he sustained the injury as "probably one of the lowest points in my life." However, on top of his recovery, he used the time to learn more about himself.
"I'm definitely ambitious and I'm gonna fight for anything I believe in," Robinson said. "If I believe that I can return back to the field and do what I need to do to the level that I want to do it, then that's the steps I'm taking to put myself in that position."
Rivera hopes that Robinson's return will offer a boost for the Commanders' offense. His downhill style was used to great effect in the preseason, and it adds a change of pace to what Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic provide. The Commanders have begun to lean more on their ground attack, and Robinson's skill set should help open things up for the rest of the unit.
"One of the ways to do it is to make sure we can establish the run early so that the play action sells it for him and helps him and helps our offensive line," Rivera said. "If you can get the pass rushers going sideways, it slows it down a little bit."
Running backs coach Randy Jordan said that Robinson possesses traits that "you can't teach."
"He's got really good body balance, he's a little bit of a tweener when it comes to a thumper and being able to set a guy and make a guy miss and be able to get that hidden yardage that we always talk about."
And while Robinson will not get an excessive amount of carries, offensive coordinator Scott Turner expects him to have a good amount of action.
"Just such an amazing thing for him to come back after what he's been through," Turner said. "But as a player, you know, he's going to give us some juice and that physical presence and just a good all-around back."
In other roster news, the Commanders have also activated center Tyler Larsen to the active roster and placed Milo Eifler on Injured Reserve.
