Tom Coughlin introduced the identical powerful love that guided two Giants Tremendous Bowl runs to his NFL Mix prospect conferences, veteran wideout Allen Robinson II recalled with a smile Monday.
Robinson, 31, now a Professional Bowler and 11-year veteran free agent, mentioned about half the groups he met with as a 20-year-old two-time Large 10 Receiver of the Yr have been merely attempting to get to know him, whereas the opposite half went about it a bit in a different way.
And his Giants assembly caught out as one of many completely different ones.
“There were some meetings I left where I’m like, ‘I don’t even understand why they brought me here,’” Robinson mentioned on the Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast. “Whether that was a team putting on my lowlights from the season, and we’re just sitting there flipping through those, watching me on the backside of runs, not blocking anybody. Which actually, shoutout to Tom Coughlin. That’s who that was.
“Tom Coughlin was just asking me like what happened here,” Robinson continued. “It was probably like a three-to-five-minute highlight — well, lowlight — of me just kinda loafing on different plays.”
Robinson was a first-team All-American coming off a 97-catch, 1,432-yard, six-touchdown season at Penn State. However Coughlin was drilling down on the hidden particulars.
“What he was saying was, ‘I’ve talked to your coach, he said you’re a hard worker and stuff like that, but I don’t see that,’” Robinson added.
Robinson mentioned his assembly with the Jacksonville Jaguars and coach Gus Bradley against this was “warm.”
“It felt like they wanted to meet with me,” he mentioned.
Finally the Giants drafted Odell Beckham Jr. at No. 12 total out of LSU. Then the Jags drafted Robinson at No. 61 total within the second spherical, and he went to the Professional Bowl in his second NFL season.
However Robinson appreciated and understood Coughlin’s strategy and mentioned he was ready for it by onerous teaching rising up.
“Having hard coaches when I was younger prepared me a lot for once I got to the combine being in front of different coaches,” he mentioned. “It didn’t really phase me as far as getting me out of character. I also think that’s something coaches do. They want to evaluate players’ characters because sometimes you may not have another meeting throughout the course of the draft process.
“So they want to be able to kind of pick and poke to see what makes guys tick,” he added. “Do guys get frustrated? How do guys respond to criticism? How do guys respond when they are … not held accountable? So I’ve been able to keep a wide-eyed view and see where coaches are coming from… They’re your coach. They’re meant to get something out of you.”
Take heed to the complete Talkin’ Ball episode to listen to Robinson and former NFL large receiver co-host Bennie Fowler reminisce about their shared 2014 NFL Mix expertise and analyze the L.A. Rams, Matthew Stafford’s scenario, Saquon Barkley’s distinctive talents, Ben Johnson’s Detroit Lions success and future with the Chicago Bears and extra.
