It was August 22, 88 days ago, when Arizona Cardinals rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson made an appearance in the team's final practice before being cut to 53 players.
Five days later, Robinson was placed on injured reserve and designated for return on October 9. That raised hopes that he tended to be ready to play. Of course that wasn't the case.
Robinson observed his teammates during individual drills in that first practice and was listed as limited on the injury report, which has a different meaning than players on the active roster.
Robinson hasn't trained since and had to cope with the death of his mother during the 21-day period before his activation. He was activated from injured reserve on October 28 when the window closed, otherwise he would not have been able to play for the remainder of the season.
After working on the side with the team's sports performance team in the days leading up to the Week 10 game against the Jets, there finally seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon told the media Monday morning, an hour before a “bonus” day of practice after returning from the bye, that Robinson would be on the field. In fact, he took part in stretching and individual exercises during the portion of the training session that was open to the media. There will be no official injury report until Wednesday. The planned duration of the exercise was 65 minutes.
Gannon said, “If he's out there, we'll have a concrete plan for him, but if he's out there, we feel good that he's out there.”
The even-tempered Gannon added: “It will be good to get him out there. It's been a long time. He had a hard road. He had a serious injury and is working hard to get back out there. He wants to get back out there. He had a good week last week. The return-to-play staff, all those guys, did a good job with him. So we’re taking it one day at a time.”
Gannon said during the bye week, “We had several people here working and filling up the health bucket. He was obviously one of them. He had a good week. He didn’t have a week off.”
Understandably, Gannon wouldn't speculate on whether Robinson will be active for next Sunday's game in Seattle.
Asked if he will be at a “pitch count” when he is deemed ready to play, Gannon said: “One day at a time with it. “We'll put the pieces together and do what we think we need to do The best thing is to win the game.”
Safeties Jalen Thompson and Joey Blount were missing from practice. Thompson did not play against the Jets due to an ankle injury, while the reason for Blount's absence is unknown.
Tackle Kelvin Beachum, who typically doesn't practice on Wednesdays, was on the field Monday.
As we found out after visiting the Cardinals last Tuesday, safety Andre Chachere was also on the field, having been signed to the practice squad on Monday. Chachere played in 17 games for the Cardinals in 2023, but was released in the August 27 reduction to 53 players.
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