HARRISONBURG — The quest to replace an All-American cornerback begins with the return of another for James Madison.

On Monday, Rashad Robinson, who missed all of the 2018 season with turf toe, said he’s healthy and will participate when the Dukes open spring practice on March 14.

“I’m feeling back to myself,” Robinson said.

Robinson received a medical hardship waiver to earn a redshirt and an additional year of eligibility after feeling foot pain during a scrimmage in training camp this past August. Surgery less than a week before the season opener sidelined him for the year.

“I just got cleared two or three weeks ago, actually,” Robinson said. “So I’m moving on up and making sure I’m getting all my movement back. I’m going to be a little rusty as far as [defensive back] drills are concerned since I haven’t done it since August, but as far as my health, I’m good to go.”

A product of Hermitage High School, Robinson said sitting out the entire fall was difficult, especially one he entered with such high expectations.

Robinson was Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and a STATS Preseason All-American going into last year following a productive junior season. In 2017, his 51 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, forced fumble, nine pass breakups and seven interceptions earned him first-team All-American honors from the American Football Coaches Association and second-team All-American honors from the Associated Press.

Robinson and outgoing senior Jimmy Moreland, who went onto be the CAA Defensive Player of the Year and gain consensus All-American honors this past fall, were supposed to give the Dukes two elite corners on the field at the same time.

“It was one of the toughest things I had to endure in my life,” Robinson said. “I had all the preseason hype and all of that, and then on the snap of a finger with a freak accident, all of that I kind of had taken away from me.

“I just had to sit back and reflect that everything happens for a reason. I had to go from worrying about just me to trying to help the other guys — Jimmy, Charles [Tutt], Curtis [Oliver] and the other corners. But it was a tough fall for me, personally, because I had high expectations for myself. But I am blessed with the opportunity for a fifth year to show what I was supposed to do last year and what I can do.”

Robinson’s teammates are already noticing how anxious he is for spring football.

“Oh man, it’s good having Rashad back,” defensive end Ron’Dell Carter said. “I tell you what, Rashad is itching to get back out there. You just see him, and me and him will just be sitting down, and he’ll be like, ‘I can’t wait to get back out there with you bro.’

“… So you can just tell he misses it. He’s hasn’t been out on the field for almost a year, so you can imagine how that feels. He was preseason All-American, Defensive Player of the Year and the expectations, and it got taken away from him. So you can imagine how he probably feels about that, but I can tell you he’s working. He’s putting his head down and going to work.”

Robinson said he’s been able to go through most of the Dukes’ strength and conditioning program with new strength and conditioning coach Brian Phillips.

“Beginning of winter workouts I wasn’t able to do everything in the weight room at first,” Robinson said, “but as soon as I saw the doctor, and I think it was week three or four of winter workouts, I was cleared to do everything. So I actually participated in the mat drills with no limitations. I have no limitations in the weight room, so I’m really feeling good about getting back to my old self.

“I’m really part of the team again.”

And that’s the primary reason why Robinson said he’s thrilled to be back at Madison. He said he never thought about trying to forego his final year of eligibility for a chance at the NFL and never thought about not returning for an extra season at the school.

Before last season, Robinson was rated as highly as the seventh-best cornerback prospect for the NFL Draft by draftscout.com.

“It was a no-brainer for me, first and foremost to get my degree,” Robinson said. “I was planning on graduating that fall, but it was going to be a [workload] and it was going to be tough for me to do with the injury. I couldn’t walk for a certain amount of weeks and I was tied up with classes, so I said, ‘Why not take the load off and graduate this May?’

“But as far as the NFL and stuff, I wanted to come back regardless because no matter what the stats are, I am coming from the FCS and it’s already hard enough for guys that come from Alabama and Clemson that have skipped their senior year to make that jump. So it was a no-brainer for me, because at the end of the day, the scouts and coaches want to see not ‘can they just do it for one year? But can they pile it up for multiple years and be the same kind of guy that you were the year before?’”