The Atlanta Falcons are on a two-game losing streak following Sunday’s 31-28 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Running back Bijan Robinson was limited to 11 carries for the second week in a row.
While the rookie is averaging 5.0 yards per carry, he has only topped 15 carries in a game one time this season. Back in Week 2, Robinson had a season-high 19 carries for 124 rushing yards.
Over the last three weeks, Robinson has just 23 total rushing attempts. This lack of carries has caused many to wonder if Robinson is dealing with an injury of some sort.
Falcons head coach Arthur Smith was asked if Robinson was healthy during his Monday press conference.
“Yeah, I think he played a lot of snaps yesterday,” said Smith. “For any rookie, the season is long. You’re going to have ebbs and flows. He’s had a huge impact already.”
Is Falcons running back Bijan Robinson healthy?
Head coach Arthur Smith: “Yeah, I think he played a lot of snaps yesterday. … For any rookie, the season is long. You’re going to have ebbs and flows. … He’s had a huge impact already.”
Robinson had 11 carries for 51 yards in…
— Terrin Waack (@TerrinWaack) November 6, 2023
The Falcons gave the ball to Tyler Allgeier 12 times in Week 9, despite the fact that he was averaging 3.3 yards per carry. Allgeier has consistently received the goal-line work over Robinson this season.
Both backs are obviously very talented and while Allgeier is more of a power runner, Robinson was supposed to be the all-around weapon that took this Falcons offense to the next level. That simply hasn’t happened, though.
Smith seems to be more concerned with keeping the rookie fresh for the second half of the season. While this isn’t a bad strategy, if the Falcons keep losing, it won’t matter which players are healthy late in the year.
Atlanta dropped to second place in the NFC South following Sunday’s loss to the Vikings. The team will look to turn things around against the 1-8 Arizona Cardinals in Week 10.
Smith also said Taylor Heinicke would remain the team’s starting quarterback for at least another week.