Patrick Robinson Suddenly Major Key to Success of Eagles' D

Back in August, it looked like Patrick Robinson might have trouble cracking the Eagles' 53-man roster. What a difference a month makes, because recently, the journeyman cornerback has been downright indispensable.

Robinson is coming off arguably his best performance of the season against the Cardinals on Sunday, finishing with five tackles, three pass breakups and a blocked field goal. The eighth-year veteran probably should've come up with an interception or two as well, except the opposing wide receivers were playing some good defense themselves.

Regardless, Robinson has been on fire. He's up to 19 tackles, two tackles for loss, seven pass breakups and one interception on the season -- not to mention become one of the Eagles' unsung heroes through five weeks.

"Patrick has really come on," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Wednesday. "When we picked him up in the offseason and we brought him in, one, it just added depth to our roster at the position. We had some young guys at the time, and this was before the draft, too."

Signed to a one-year contract in late March, several weeks after the opening of free agency, Robinson struggled mightily during OTAs and training camp. After one especially rough practice over the summer, he even summarized his own performance as "terrible."

Robinson fared better in the preseason and would wind up beating out the likes of upside talents such as C.J. Smith and Aaron Grymes. It was still difficult to envision a 30-year-old defensive back coming off a rough, injury-riddled season with the Colts suddenly blossoming into a shutdown defender.

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"His versatility right now being able to play the nickel spot and also bounce out and play corner, which he did in the second half of the game last week, I think it's just a lot of value on defense," Pederson said.

"He's a smart guy, a veteran player who knows how to play and understands the game and he seems to be in the right spot right now. He feels comfortable in his role, and he's been a big, big asset to the defense."

Big, big asset might me an understatement. The Eagles' corners entered the season with plenty of question marks, Robinson being high on that list. To make matters worse, the secondary has been hit hard by injuries so far, most notably to starting cornerback Ronald Darby, but in the safety corps as well.

So it's been incredibly fortunate for the Eagles that Robinson, for the bargain-basement price of $775,000, according to OverTheCap, has overcome his earlier issues and provided the back end of the defense some much needed stability.

"I think any player, whether it's a rookie or a veteran that goes to a new football team, there's a curve," Pederson said. "There's a catch-up curve to understanding the scheme and the terminology, and I think the more reps that a player gets, and particularly in his case, the better you become."

According to Pro Football Focus, Robinson currently ranks 2nd out of 109 NFL cornerbacks in overall cumulative performance in 2017. Say what you want about PFF's metrics, but that's incredible given the fact that, by Pederson's own admission, Robinson was added to the roster primarily for depth.

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