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JACKSONVILLE -- Jacksonville Jaguars fifth-round pick Denard Robinson has struggled a bit with his transition from college quarterback to NFL wide receiver/running back through the first few days of training camp, but on Monday he had a bounce back practice, including running a particular formation that's going to garner a lot more attention by the media than it probably should.
Robinson struggled with drops through the first few days of practice, but from what I was able to see on Monday the only thing he had close to a drop was when linebacker LaRoy Reynolds made a play on a ball thrown behind Robinson that he batted away.
Part of the reason Robinson has been able to bounce back is he's out on the practice field working even when the team isn't. Each and every practice he comes out before the official start and stays after the official end catching passes and working on securing the football.
"You know what? We had a walk through yesterday and after the walk through he stayed after and wanted to get extra work. We had some time left over in our daily schedule and it’s very important to him," Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley said about Robinson's bounce back day on Monday. "As a coach when he’s talented like he is and it’s that important to him that’s all you ask. If he’s willing to put the time in like he is and really understand the concepts and what’s important to us then he’s got a good chance."
Outside of catching the football, the other area Robinson has stood out is his ability to generate explosive plays out of the wildcat formation. I don't want to go overboard too much here, because those who know me know I hate the wildcat formation and think it's a red flag that your team doesn't have a quarterback.... but, yeah.
Robinson has ran the wildcat a handful of times through the first four days of training camp, and while one particular instance ended in a fumble recovered by the defense from Robinson, a number of other times it's resulted in what looked like would be a big play even with live tackling, and it's come from completely different ways.
Not only has Robinson kept the ball on a wildcat play and picked up a big chunk of yardage, but he's also handed the ball off to Maurice Jones-Drew for a big gain up the middle of a defense, but he's also picked up a huge gain by throwing the football.
That last part is why I think the wildcat might just work a bit more effectively for the Jaguars and Robinson than it has in the past few seasons for other teams. Robinson isn't ever going to be a full time quarterback in the NFL, but he does pass the ball just well enough to make it a threat out of that formation, as evidenced by a 25-yard strike he threw to Mike Brown on the sideline in practice.
This isn't going to be a staple of the Jaguars offense by any means, and Robinson still has to show he's worth even being active on gameday, but it is something that offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch can keep in his back pocket that should have opposing defenses guessing.
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