Packer Central

Watch: James Robinson Makes Packers Debut

Check out some of the action from Green Bay Packers practice on Wednesday as running back James Robinson made his debut.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers signed veteran running back James Robinson to their practice squad on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he practiced for the first time.

Robinson signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2020. As a rookie, he rushed for 1,070 yards and had 1,414 yards from scrimmage – most in NFL history by an undrafted rookie.

However, Robinson suffered a torn Achilles late in the 2021 season, was traded to the Jets midway through the 2022 season, and was released by the Patriots (before training camp) and Giants (at the end of training camp) in 2023.

“He’s a guy that’s been a productive back in this league,” coach Matt LaFleur said.

With Green Bay, Robinson will try to resurrect his career as he takes the place of Patrick Taylor on the practice squad.

Taylor was beaten out by rookie Emanuel Wilson for a spot on the 53-man roster in training camp, though that decision was based on Wilson’s potential rather than his ability to help the team immediately. Elevated from the practice squad for three games and signed to the 53-man roster for the Week 5 game at the Raiders, Taylor worked ahead of Wilson in four of the five games and logged 70 snaps to Wilson’s 14.

“There’s a learning curve for every young player in this league and you’ve just got to prove it through practice,” LaFleur said of Wilson. “He’s a talented guy, no question about it, but it’s just that trust that he can go out there, no matter what the defense gives us, that he’s going to be able to go out there and execute. Because it’s not just running the football. It’s protections, it’s all that. I think he’s progressing nicely and we’ll give him more opportunities throughout practice in order for him to go out there and do it in the game.”

Taylor was released by the Packers the day after the Las Vegas game; he signed to New England’s practice squad on Wednesday.

Assuming Robinson shows some burst and can pick up the offense, it’s easy to envision him taking Taylor’s role as the veteran insurance policy behind the one-two punch of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.

You can see Jones, Dillon, Wilson and Robinson in the accompanying video.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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