The New England Patriots' run game stole the show in Sunday's upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson's numbers jump off the page, but the offensive line undoubtedly deserves credit for its performance.
Rookie fourth-rounder Layden Robinson stood out in his first regular-season NFL game. The 23-year-old right guard played every offensive snap in the 16-10 victory and excelled at creating running lanes with his physicality against Cincinnati's defensive front.
Robinson joined our Phil Perry on a new episode of the Next Pats Podcast to discuss his first taste of NFL action and more.
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"The emotions, just 'Thank you, God,'" Robinson said about making his NFL debut. "That was my emotions, you know, that like, I'm here and I thank you. That was all my emotion is. I made sure I took my knee, prayed, said my prayer and just got ready to play football."
Robinson has the privilege of playing alongside veteran center David Andrews, a two-time Super Bowl champion with nine years of NFL experience. He has benefited from picking Andrews' brain during practice.
"Those (practices) are where we get everything done," Robinson said. "We have to get everything done in practice so in the game we can just flow fast and play freely how we want to play.
"(Andrews) is very communicative. ... He's a great center and he always makes sure that we know what we're doing. But every question that we have always comes in practice. He makes sure I'm always good and makes sure I understand everything."
Andrews has similarly been impressed with Robinson's approach to the game.
"He's a really tough guy," Andrews said of Robinson earlier this week. "He wants to get it right. He's very coachable in that sense. Like, you tell him something, he's going to try to do it to the best of his ability. ... He just does such a great job of trying to soak up all the information he can, trying to correct things he needs to correct and move forward.
"I've really enjoyed getting to work with him and think he's done a great job."
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Head coach Jerod Mayo and the Patriots haven't been shy about how much they plan on running the ball this season. That's music to Robinson's ears, because it allows the 6-foot-3, 311-pound lineman to do what he does best.
"That feels good because, at the end of the day, the game is won in the trenches," Robinson said. "You always have to set the tone and that's the name of the game. You have to set the tone and that's with running the ball. Like, when Coach said we were going to run the ball, and that is a big deal and I take pride in that and our offensive line takes pride in that.
"We're going to run the ball no matter if anybody knows it or not. That's our job. That's what we have to do. That's what we got paid to be here to do, is to make sure we run the ball and open up lanes for our running backs. That's our job and we take pride in that and we're going to do it."
Also in the episode:
- Layden Robinson's impressive NFL debut in Week 1 win.
- How Robinson is winning over his teammates and coaches.
- Phil Perr's five-point plan to beat the Seahawks in Week 2