Washington Commanders RB Brian Robinson returns to practice

ASHBURN, Va. — Five weeks after being shot twice in the leg, Washington Commanders rookie running back Brian Robinson returned to where he most wanted to be: the football field.

He performed the mundane tasks, running in and around dummy bags on the ground, taking handoffs in drills and even running some scout team.

«It was a beautiful day for me,» Robinson said.

The Commanders running back practiced for the first time since being shot on Aug. 28 while going out to dinner in the District of Columbia. The police report called it a robbery or a carjacking.

Robinson remains on the non-football injury list, but now that he's practicing the Commanders have 21 days to place him on the active roster, or keep him on NFI.

Washington coach Ron Rivera has not ruled out Robinson playing against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. But, with another game four days later, Rivera said they would be careful. They'll see how he feels Thursday and measure his progress by using a GPS coordinator, seeing if there's any drop off in his speed the more he practices.

«It was good to have him out there, and he looked solid,» Rivera said. «He's got a little bit ways to go. Conditioning will be a question, that's for sure. But his retention, his recall looked pretty good. We did some of the things that he does well. He was out there doing them. It was all promising.»

Robinson was going to be Washington's primary running back before he was shot, allowing Antonio Gibson to be used in a more versatile role. The Commanders like Robinson's consistency running between the tackles; he's not as explosive as Gibson, but runs with more power.

But Wednesday wasn't about Robinson's traits as a player; it was about others welcoming him back. Before a passing drill,