ESPNOct Oct 23, 2023, 5:45 PM ET2 Minute Read
The NFL is now asking the Atlanta Falcons questions about compliance with injury reports, when they knew rookie running back Bijan Robinson wasn’t feeling well physically and why it wasn’t reported according to league policy, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday with.
It is standard league practice to question teams about a player if he is not listed on the weekly injury report and is then either unavailable for the game or plays far less than is normally the case. Violations were punished with fines.
Robinson didn’t enter Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers until there were two minutes left in the first quarter. Coach Arthur Smith told FOX at halftime that Robinson was not feeling well.
Smith said Monday that Robinson “will be fine.”
Robinson said after the game that he had been suffering from a headache and “felt weird” Saturday night when he had trouble falling asleep and woke up “feeling completely out of it.”
He said he took medication to feel better, but his head continued to hurt.
Robinson said his head was still bothering him after Sunday’s game, adding that he had not been tested for a concussion or given a COVID test. He was not seen in the locker room during Monday’s public media session.
The Falcons assumed Robinson would always play the game and therefore did not need to be placed on the injury report, a source told ESPN.
Robinson said he never thought about sitting out Sunday’s 16-13 win, but he ended up playing just 11 snaps with no targets and just one touch – a 3-yard run on the game’s final drive to Younghoe Koos’ game-winning drive Field prepare target.
When asked why Robinson received a carry in this situation even though he hadn’t played the entire game, Smith shifted his focus to the actual play.
“He was in a two-minute situation,” Smith said. “Gave us three yards and it was situational football. He’s changing the way people want to call it, and that’s why. It’s pretty simple.”
The eighth overall pick in this year’s draft has 81 carries for 404 yards. He also has 26 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns this season.
ESPN’s Michael Rothstein contributed to this report.