Commanders RB Brian Robinson building off trying rookie year - ESPN

ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. dealt with getting shot, undergoing knee surgery and a rookie season that unfolded in a way he never anticipated. Now, he and the Commanders hope, the NFL must deal with the player he said he can be.

«People should expect a lot of great things to come compared to the things I did limping around all last year,» he said. «I feel night and day from last year. I feel more like myself every day.»

Robinson was shot twice in his leg while going out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in the early evening with a friend on Aug. 28. Police said it was an attempted carjacking/robbery. Robinson was shot in his right knee and hip, but he was able to wrestle the gun away from one of his assailants. Two teenagers were sentenced to six and four years — until they turn 21 — respectively, in youth services custody

Robinson, expected to be Washington's primary runner, underwent surgery and missed the first four games. He averaged 3.4 yards per carry on his first 108 rushes — before a three-game stretch in which he averaged 5.7 yards per carry and rushed for a combined 290 yards. That's when Washington started to see the running back they drafted in the third round in 2022; they even watched him run over a Falcons player during one carry. That stretch is when he started to show the vision and one-cut ability that impressed them when he played at Alabama.

Commanders coach Ron Rivera said after that stretch a thigh contusion slowed him. For the season Robinson rushed for 797 yards, averaging 3.9 per carry, with two touchdowns.

«We had a real good picture of what it can be,» Rivera said. «What we now see is a more mature version of last year's guy who went through camp [before the