The mystery of Bijan Robinson’s absence from Sunday’s game has been solved.
The Falcons rookie running back was limited during the victory over the Bucs, but coach Arthur Smith said Monday that Robinson is “fine.”
Robinson told reporters in postgame interviews that he began “feeling weird” Saturday night, with a headache. He had trouble sleeping and woke up Sunday “feeling completely out of it.”
He said he was not administered a COVID test and also was not tested for a concussion, via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.
Medicine did not help his headache, Robinson said.
The Falcons played Robinson only 11 snaps and used him mostly as a decoy. He had no targets and his only touch came with 33 seconds remaining, a 3-yard run on the last drive that set up Younghoe Koo’s game-winning field goal.
Smith was asked why, when Robinson hadn’t touched the ball the entire game, he was given a carry at the end of the game.
“He was in a two-minute situation,” Smith said, via Rothstein. “Gave us 3 yards, and it was situational football. He changes how people want to call it and that’s why. It’s pretty simple.”
The Falcons announced no reason for Robinson’s absence during the game, but Smith told Fox sideline reporter Kristina Pink at halftime that the first-round draft pick “just wasn’t feeling all that great.”
“Situation was good that he’d be available. How much, we’d just see how the game went,” Smith said. “The way the game went, [Cordarrelle Patterson] and Tyler [Allgeier] did a nice job, but he asked if he could go. I think he does a good job, especially in the two-minute stuff, and he went out there and how it affected the game, maybe it affected some calls, we’ll never know.
“But we got the look we wanted with Kyle [Pitt’s 39-yard] play, and [Robinson] got us a couple of yards and finished the game and helped get the field goal closer. But things come up all the time. Thought it was communicated with the players and strange things have happened on game day before, but we would never put him out there if we thought it was something we thought would be detrimental long-term.”
Robinson has 106 touches for 590 yards and two touchdowns this season.