Oh, he's a pleasure to chat with your coach. Here we are a week before, we're in October already. Can you believe that? That's hard to believe. But listen, there's so many things that have happened this year, in this season that's just it's all the imagine. So this is another one. We already in October and look like we got here yesterday. Let's get into your guys this week. James Robinson, of course, the offensive rookie of the month in the NFL. So we had a thirty nine scrimmage yards.
But you know, you hear him talk this week and he's modest. He's kind of quiet, that's his personality. But you gotta love it for a kid like this to come in and play that well. It's been fun just to watch him and to be there with him, to be a part of it, to be a part of that growth, to kind of sit and visit with him and be with him in the room. You know, like I said, he's a very modest kid. You know, he's
he's he's fought through it a little bit. Uh. You know, I was a guy that back in the day that was it was a twelve round draft The draft was twelve round and I got picking the eight. So you know, I know that, I know that feeling of nobody wanted me, nobody wanted you. And then I'm at it and I think for a guy like that, I could really relate to him, you know. He you know, he had a hell of a senior year, a lot of yard rushing,
a lot of touchdowns. Uh. You're sitting there thinking, you know, I'll go to first maybe I'll go the first day, you know, Oh no, no, Well maybe I'm gonna go to second day. Well maybe we're we're in four, maybe i'll go in five. And then you don't go, and then all of a sudden you're like you're feeling bad. And then you get here and you find out, oh, you know what, they're just playing football. I could do that,
you know. And to sit out and watch him every day just getting more and more comfortable with the system, more and more comfortable with what we're doing, and to watch him just keep growing and growing. It's fun. It's challenging, and I'm having a good time with it. I'm having I'm having a fun time with it. Uh. We just we still got a long ways to go. But It's just fun watching him develop every week and getting better.
Terry Robiski with a Jaguars running backs coach, we always hear, at least so far earlier in the season, we've heard about his great vision as a running back. Is that something you can teach a running back is a natural reaction. Take us through what that actually means. You always kind of give him a direction of what we're trying to do. You're trying to point out to him. You get with the old line and you kind of sit there and you're watching your tape and you kind of tell him
where we think it's gonna go. You know, it's one of those you know, hey, if they do this and do that, we're gonna hit it in the A gap. You know, we're gonna hit the two hole, whatever it is. And then something happens, just like I can tell you right off the bat, Like we played Indiannapolis here and we kind of had one maybe backed up. We ran a belly to the left and he stepped up there and jumped outside and went for twelve and got us the first time, which was big for us at that
point in time. That's not coachable, you know, and that's why I told him the minute he jumped out that starts screaming, don't go out there, don't go out there. Good good job, good job, good job. You know. So you know, it's one of those when you tell a guy, uh, let's don't do this, because more times than not it will be a negative play. More time than not, you'll lose yours. And then the guys that's got that vision that see what you can't see because I'm on the sideline,
you know. And and even when I get the little projected there on the sideline, when I get the little iPad, I still can't see it, you know what I mean. But something told him it was there. He saw it, he hit it, he took it, and it works out pretty good. Uh, that's just something we tell him. That's just something God gave him. It ain't not nothing to do by it. You mentioned it's a long way to go. What are some things he's working on? What can he improve upon as we move into the second quarter of
the season. Game. Oh, he just got to continue to uh work working like he's working, continue to work hard. Uh. That's just a bunch of little things that he's got to get more consistent with his step his footwork. Uh, just keep that going. The big thing we emphasize in our room is we want to be a north and south runner. Uh. Let's don't spend too much time east and west. You know, it's a north and south game. He's just got to uh unit talking about his vision.
He's got to use his vision, but after that, he's got to use his feet, you know. And he's got to continue to get down a little bit below and be behind his pad, which is something I emphasized to him every day. We all in professional football and any football, we all got to always continue to work on protecting the football and secure that thing and put that thing away because that that will cast you the game and the heartbeat. And he's just got to continue to work
and work hard on being north and south. And like I tell him every time he jumps outside, uh, in practice, I you know, I said, what you're trying to get on the ESPN? You know that's an ESPN play, you know? And I told him I know that a a little home, I said, a little hometown you from. I can tell the where you talk. You guys probably don't have ESPN, I said, but obviously you're trying to you're trying to get on the ESPN. You're jumping outside and think you're
going for the home run. I just told him, just keep don't ever get tired putting five dollars in the bank. Don't go get me five yards, go get me five yards. And the great thing about it is he here all of us said the same thing. Uh. Coach Middleton has a big thing that go get what we need and then get what you want. And I love it, you know, And coach Ron has been coaching for a long time, and I of course Ron tell it to him almost
every day. You know, go get what we need. We need four, go get what we need and then get what you want after that, you know. So we just gotta keep going with him and keep him growing. And uh, and of course we gotta go win some games. We gotta win the game. I love that approach. Coach Cherry Robisky with US Jaguars running backs coach. A guy who's been a little bit overshadowed this year is Chris Thompson. He was brought in in free agency to kind of
be that third down type of back. He's he was just had a role obviously on this team already, but as a veteran, I'm sure he understands what's going on here and and understands what he can contribute to this running back room as well. Well, let me see Chris. I think Chris found out at an early stage in training camp that James is a lot better past protector
than Chris is. And Chris. I think Chris had his uh you know, probably his sister, his aunt, his cousin, they all called and told him we saw that linebacker run over you on that past protection. So Chris is okay with it. You know, he he liked to sit and say James a bigger man. Uh. He likes to sit on and say James fatter than I am. We all say James got a bigger head than Chris gott So all those things tie in because James uses them
all well. And James has certainly become a better pass protector. So, uh, some of those things that Chris was brought in to do, like third down pass protect uh, you know, quick stuff out the backfield, James, Uh, Jamimes shown he could do some of those, and that pass protec and stuff, he can do it better. So I think Chris is okay with that. He'd rather James. We we have a pass protection in the playbook. That's a free release by the back. There's no pick up, no block, free release and go.
I think Chris want all the those you know, Chris Key, Chris keep suggesting, let me get those where I get a free release, free release and go. So that's the big thing. Chris is. Chris is a great teammate. He's been great in the room. He's been great for James. And he's the one guy that talks and communicate with James a lot. So he's been he's been phenomenal for James. And uh uh he uh he gave him a hug.
We were sitting in the room the other day. He give him a hug and he said, Hey, I don't know what it feels like the hug the rookie of the month, Let me have a hug. So uh he gave him a hug and I had to I had to yell at him, but they had their masks on. I was gonna yell at him for hugging, and I said, you can't hug when you're supposed to be six ft apart. But Chris wanted to hug because he'd never been in a room with a rookie of the money. I mean
before but the red light on the tracer probably came on. Yeah, I started beepings. Final thought, whether here coach Denard Robinson is on the coaching status here offensive quality control coach, part of the minority coaching program in the NFL. I know he works with the running backs a lot. I see him when the practice field with you guys out there. What is he meant to the coaching staff so far? And what has he done to help those guys in the running back ro man to help you personally? He's
been okay. It's been good to have him in there. Uh, he's been okay. Uh. That's ah, that's a part of him. That's a little bit of a pain. Uh. And I gotta get on him all the time. I told him when he walked in the door the first day that you know, he was bringing negative with him. You know, I said, you're coming in and uh, you come from that school up north. You know it's a school with that him And I was attached to that school with that o h I oh, because my son went to
Ohio State, you know. But uh, he wanted to Uh. I think he wanted to stick his chest out and make a muscle, you know, and let me know, y'all, I went to Michigan. But I think uh, after I told him my son and him had beat him at that time, they'd beat Michigan like seven games straight, seven years in the row. I think that made him sit on and shut up, you know. But he's been really good for the guys. He's been really really good for them.
I like my room to be loose. I like guys to h focus on what we're doing from a football standpoint, but also to be loose and relax and let's enjoy the game. And the North has been phenomenal for that. They sit down and have the youthful conversation about this rapper or that rapper, and uh, you know he he uses some of that street link well to get some point across and uh and at the same time, he's been able to better them the straight than I have.
Uh you know, how to plant on this cut off of this and you know what's gonna happen with this, what's gonna happen with that. So he's been he's been a blessing for us in our room. The young guys enjoy him to enjoy him being in the back and uh, they have a good time with it. The only thing I've got to get out of him. And I know I'm a little older than him, and I've already told him I'm gonna slapping one day' gonna lap the hell
out of him. Really, because we're sitting in the room, and I have a tendency the extra question, you know, and I might ask it like sideways to put a guy in a position like why did you do that? That's that's dumb. I can't believe it. Even though I know he did the right thing. I want him to explain to me why he did that, you know. And the minute I said that, you know, the no oh no, no, no, cause you're wrong. You're wrong, You're wrong. I know I'm wrong. Shut up and be quiet, you know. So we got
a little bit of that going on. But he's been good and we're enjoying it. We're having a good time with him in the wrong