LOS ANGELES — Cobie Durant sat on the Rams bench, feeling mixed emotions. The team had gone to overtime against the Seattle Seahawks because of two misplays by the third-year corner while covering Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But the defense had gotten the necessary stop on the first drive of overtime, so his frustration was tempered.
But then from his seat on the sidelines, Durant watched as Rams receiver Demarcus Robinson streaked down the field, and used his left arm to create some separation from his defender while using his right to corral the winning touchdown. Durant’s mouth and eyes went wide. Still, in disbelief, he stood up as teammates rushed the field or waved goodbye at the Seattle crowd.
“I’m like, rewind,” Durant said. “Did this really happen? And it’s like, man, D-Rob, you saved me.”
With that catch, Robinson pulled the Rams (4-4) back up to .500 for the season. He completed his second two-touchdown game in as many weeks. And, with his fifth touchdown of the year, Robinson set a career-high.
Robinson is set to make 2024, his eighth year in the NFL, a career year for himself. With 327 receiving yards through eight games, he’s on track to break his career high of 466 while also pacing to average 15.6 yards per reception, another potential high-water mark.
All in his second season with his third team.
“I would just say opportunity, man,” Robinson said when asked to explain the success. “Having the opportunity to get on the field with these guys and having a guy like Cooper [Kupp] and Puka [Nacua] to take a lot of the coverage away. So just having a lot of opportunity one-on-one, me and a DB alone on an island, just giving me a chance. And Matthew [Stafford] having confidence in me that I can go out and beat man-to-man.”
Robinson has played in other talented offenses before Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid and Baltimore with Lamar Jackson. He got some degree of opportunity in the latter stop due to injuries and produced 48 catches for 458 yards.
But the Ravens let him walk and sign a veteran-minimum deal with the Rams in 2023. He was a standout that training camp while splitting time between receiver and special teams, just trying to make the roster. With some injuries in front of him, he was thrust into the third receiver role and performed well enough for the Rams to sign him to a one-year deal before free agency opened.
“I think it’s just right place, right time and opportunities with those guys going down and being hurt,” Robinson said. “And it’s just opportunity. Just a chance to go out and step up and show the world I can make plays. The coaches have given me that opportunity and Matthew has, too, just throwing me the ball.”
As beneficial as his situation in Los Angeles has been to Robinson, his presence as a veteran has rubbed off on his younger teammates too, with rookie Jordan Whittington saying he’s acted as a big brother to him.
“He’s been in the league for a while. So he’s always there [for us],” Whittington said. “He’s a great energy to have in the room.”
Robinson isn’t a vocal leader with his laid-back personality. But when Kupp and Nacua went down earlier this season with injuries, Whittington said, it was Robinson who took the lead breaking down film in the receiver room.
And the way he practices sets an example daily.
“That’s one thing people don’t know about him is that he practices really hard. So when you have somebody that does that, it just makes that energy contagious and then everybody does that, so that leads to good games,” Whittington said. “Super attentive to details and the effort is always there when you watch the film. He’s moving fast all the time.”
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“I always heard, you play how you practice. So just practice fast all the time and then when game time comes, it’s an easier reality to be able to go out there,” Robinson explained. “And then also just giving the quarterback confidence that he’s going to be in the spot he’s supposed to be in. And then it gets your timing on cue.”
And that timing helps explain why he’s created such a rapport with Stafford in the last year, with Stafford trusting the veteran, especially in man-to-man situations like he found himself in in overtime last weekend.
“I think for a guy his size, he’s sudden and explosive,” Stafford said. “He is not a small person. He is a big dude, wiry, sudden mover and has a great feel for what’s going to get him open. Some guys just have a great feel. He does a great job of that, especially in those sticky man-to-man type situations.”