Bengals Bring In Robinson

His teammates, one by one, got their contracts or tryout offers Saturday after the conclusion of the 2018 NFL Draft, but the former James Madison defensive tackle hadn’t received his yet.

“It was after everything was settled,” Robinson said Monday after accepting a rookie mini-camp tryout with the Cincinnati Bengals. “Everyone was getting free agent signings and rookie mini-camp invites, so it came after the fact.

“That surprised me.”

Robinson has a quick turnaround, too. He said he leaves for Cincinnati on Thursday.

As a senior at JMU, Robinson was a first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association choice this past fall while tallying 50 tackles to go along with 6.5 sacks, including one that forced a fumble in the national championship game against North Dakota State.

But the Virginia Beach native’s draft stock never jumped.

“I knew there were some scouts interested in me,” Robinson said. “But I wasn’t hearing it. I wasn’t down on myself, but I just knew the reality of it, so I’m just so happy for the opportunity.

“I’m ready to go play some ball.”

The former Dukes defensive lineman said Cincinnati is getting an athlete who wants to keep playing football for a long time.

“They’re going to see somebody that’s a grinder,” he said. “And that’s going to get after it and going to have that chip on his shoulder at all times.”

Robinson said that attitude was developed during his time at JMU, as he improved from year to year.

He had 18 tackles and 1.5 sacks as a sophomore and then 34 tackles and four sacks as a junior before setting career marks as an upperclassman.

“[JMU coach Mike] Houston has been a role model for me because he talked to me respectfully all the time,” Robinson said. “He never treated me like I was somebody else and he treated everyone equally, so he instilled a lot of values in me and [strength coach] Big John [Williams] instilled a lot of values in me.

“But it’s very exciting, I’m happy for the opportunity and I’m going to take full advantage of it.”