New York Giants Cornerback Aaron Robinson on Track to Return

When the Giants selected former UCF cornerback Aaron Robinson in the third round of this year's draft, they felt they were getting a physical player and the versatility to play inside and outside and on special teams.

Unfortunately, a core muscle issue sidetracked Robison's debut with his new team, the issue requiring off-season surgery that landed him on the PUP list to start training camp.

Now that his six-week stay on the PUP list is over and the 21-day window has been opened ahead of his return, Robinson could find himself on the field for the Giants as soon as Monday night when New York visits the Kansas City Chiefs.

"There’s a chance," head coach Joe Judge said Friday. "He practiced with us last week. He was out there with us yesterday doing a lot more. He’s moving well. I’d say obviously coming off the injury, that kind of delayed his start with the season. I’d say he’s been very encouraging in terms of how he’s moving."

As they did last year with then-rookie Xavier McKinney after a broken leg delayed the start of his NFL career, the Giants have made sure to keep Robinson as involved as possible with the meetings and the evolution of the scheme.

"Yeah, in terms of everything we’ve done throughout the season, he’s been very involved in that, so it’s helped him kind of move up quickly mentally," Judge said. "We’ll see where it goes these next couple days. Obviously, we’ve got (Defensive Back) J.R. (Reed) on the roster now and some other guys, but there is a chance."

Judge said Robinson has been a solid pupil in the classroom.

"He’s a smart dude. He’s very involved. He’s a good communicator. He’s very, very focused. That’s something that jumped out to us right away with this guy when we met him down in Mobile at the Senior Bowl. It definitely carried over when we got him," he said.

When he is eventually activated, the thought is that the 6-foot, 190-pound Robinson will primarily man the slot cornerback position where his height and physicality would appear to make him an ideal fit for a position that can see smaller receivers to taller tight ends lined up across from him.

In his final season at UCF, Robinson allowed 53.2 percent of the pass targets thrown against him to be completed, the eighth-best mark nationwide among cornerbacks in the 2021 draft class who were targeted at least 30 times in coverage.

"He’s got real good top-end speed. He’s got very good short-area quickness. He has good instincts in terms of matching receivers. He has very good ball skills. He’s got a physical presence to him," said Judge when asked what it was about Robinson that appealed so much to the team.

"He’s one of those guys when you watch him from across the ball, he doesn’t blink much pre-snap. He’s always looking into it, he’s anticipating moves," Judge said. "Physically, this guy’s got a pretty good skillset."

It sure does sound like a skill set that could help a Giants pass defense that is currently ranked 27th in pass completion targets allowed (69.92 percent) and tied for 13th in average passing yards allowed per game (243.1) improve.

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