Rams Coach Sean McVay Details WR Allen Robinson's 'Impressive' Injury Response

The Los Angeles Rams have lost several key players due to injury, and receiver Allen Robinson II is the latest ... but he's handled the aftermath of it well, per coach Sean McVay.

This season hasn't gone to plan for Los Angeles Rams receiver Allen Robinson II on both a team and individual level.

Searching for a fresh start after a down season by his standards, Robinson signed with the defending Super Bowl champions seeking a bounce-back season while getting his best run at a title to date.

But after a frustrating 10 games, Robinson's season has come to an early close, as the Rams announced Sunday night that the 29-year-old will undergo foot surgery and miss the remainder of the year.

Statistically, Robinson was on pace to be better than last season, when he played in just 12 games for the Chicago Bears, but ultimately came up short of the mark, finishing with 33 receptions for 339 yards and three touchdowns on 52 targets, starting all 10 games while the Rams offense battled injuries on the offensive line and later at quarterback.

But through it all, Robinson held a key role, playing at least 80 percent of the offensive snaps in each game and seeing at least five targets in every contest since Week 2.

He was beginning to find his stride in Los Angeles' offense - but the injury brought his season to a screeching halt. And yet, Robinson, a ninth-year pro, has handled it extremely well, according to coach Sean McVay.

“He’s a pros pro," McVay said. "He's been so impressive just the way that he's handled things on a day-to-day basis. This is something that he's dealt with before in his other foot and so he had a history of understanding the specifics of a navicular stress fracture and what that entails in terms of the surgery and the recovery."

Perhaps most noteworthy is that Robinson was viewed as questionable throughout the week leading up to the Rams' 26-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and even traveled with the team on the road.

But the issue was more serious than initially believed, as Robinson's foot grew sore, and an injection did little to help his cause. McVay elaborated on the timeline of events and what ultimately led to the decision to end the first of Robinson's three scheduled seasons in Los Angeles.

"I think that it was more along the lines of, you find out 'why am I having this soreness in my foot?'" McVay began. "We injected it with the hopeful optimism that it would make the pain subside and when that didn't occur, we ended up getting the CT scan on Friday and that's when we found out late Friday afternoon what was going on and you want to get the surgery so that he can get himself healthy and ready to go and he's been through this before."

Robinson's been through his injury before, but the same can't be said for Los Angeles as a team, at least under McVay. As losers of seven of their last eight games, the Rams hold a 3-8 record, putting them squarely in the cellar of the NFC West.

McVay's worst record in Los Angeles is 9-7, coming in 2019. It's the lone time he's missed the playoffs. The Rams will have to win out over their final six games to match the win total, but they've already clinched a career-low winning percentage for McVay. 

The injury struggles and hits (literally, like this one from tight end Roger Carter) that have been seemingly non-stop since training camp have brought about a new experience not only for the 36-year-old McVay, but even some of the veteran coaches on the Rams' staff.

"To say that this has been something that I've ever been through before," McVay started, "there's a lot of coaches with a lot more experience that I've kind of shared the same sentiment as far as (special teams coordinator) Joe DeCamillis, who has a bunch of experience and he's never seen anything quite like it."

But even amidst the unprecedented difficulties, McVay's proud of the way his team has accepted and responded to the challenges ... so much so that he's drawn some motivation from his players.

"It's disappointing, but I continue to remain impressed," said McVay. "Whether it be Allen or a lot of our guys, just the way that they've handled so many of the different things that have gone not according to plan in right way and worrying about the things that they can control, and that's been inspiring to me.”

Without Robinson and Cooper Kupp in the fold, the Rams are now down their top two receivers - but remain committed to trying to steady the ship.

Looking ahead, there will be several offseason questions surrounding Los Angeles' future, but with the manner in which so many of its players have attacked their individual problems and highlighted their character in the process, there should be more than enough answers.

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You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft

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