The New England Patriots offensive line finally seemed to find some stability in recent weeks, but the release of starting left guard Michael Jordan forced the unit to adapt once again. As part of that process, the team turned to a fourth-round rookie whose experience at Jordan’s former position was severely limited.
Outside of a handful of snaps in the preseason opener and in practice, Layden Robinson was almost exclusively a right guard going back to his college career at Texas A&M. And yet, New England trusted him to pick up the slack in Week 13 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Robinson did just that. While the results were a mixed bag at best, the 23-year-old appeared to have shown enough for the team to at least keep him in the starting conversation moving forward.
“Layden went out there and played his best game,” head coach Jerod Mayo said on Monday. “It wasn’t perfect by far, but definitely took a step forward.”
Mayo praised Robinson’s physicality in particular in the aftermath of the Patriots’ 25-24 loss to the Colts, saying that he “moved some bodies.”
One of his defining traits coming out of college, his physical demeanor translated well after he was selected 103rd overall in this year’s draft. That was especially true in the running game, where Robinson seemingly made a quickly transition from the college to the pro game; he was adequate as a run blocker early on in his rookie campaign.
Pass protection was a different story, though, and eventually led to his demotion after starting the first four games of the year. It remains a work in progress even after moving from the right to the left, but Sunday’s game was a step in the right direction nonetheless.
Robinson thinks so himself.
“I feel like I’m really comfortable, just getting better. Everything is new, but I’m learning,” he told reporters in the Gillette Stadium locker room following the Colts game. “That’s the best part, it’s a new challenge. The new challenge when you’re uncomfortable, it forces you to learn, broaden your horizon, open your eyes to change. Which, I feel like change is really good majority of the time. It’s going to help me keep getting better.”
Even though the Patriots scored only 24 points against the Colts and ended up dropping to 3-10 on the year, their offense played its best game of the season on Sunday. Not only did quarterback Drake Maye throw for 238 yards while completing 80 percent of his passes, New England also gained 200 yards on the ground.
Obviously, moving Robinson to left guard was not the primary catalyst behind those numbers. However, he was on the field for all 72 offensive snaps and played his part.
“It was good,” Robinson said. “Great opportunity to be out there with the guys again. Just make sure that I do my part and doing what I’ve got to do to help the team out.”
