At one point this summer, Josh Robinson was just "the other guy." That is what Vikings coach Mike Zimmer called him once when the third-year cornerback was in and out of training camp because of a hamstring injury.
But apparently, that didn't mean Robinson wasn't in the team's plans all along.
The new coaching staff had an idea of the skills that Robinson, who started 16 games in his first two NFL seasons, brings to the table. But they actually had to see him out there on the field to know for certain that they could count on him.
"We kind of had a picture. We just wanted to make sure it was solidified when we got into some games," defensive coordinator George Edwards said. "That's why he ended up playing those last two preseason games a little bit more."
Edwards stopped short of saying Robinson will be the team's third cornerback against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, lining up on the left sideline in the nickel package so Captain Munnerlyn can move inside to cover slot receivers. But now that Robinson appears to have put his injury behind him, the expectation is that he will be trusted to fill that sizable void, which is essentially a starting position in today's NFL.
"Really the last two weeks you could see him starting to feel a lot better coming off the injury with the hamstring," Edwards said. "You could see the consistency starting to show up in practice, see the competition starting to show up in practice, just the things that we thought coming in."
Bridgewater the backup
Teddy Bridgewater, the quarterback of the future, is getting used to being the backup of the present.
While Matt Cassel is getting comfortable as the starter, taking the vast majority of the first-team reps in practice, the rookie is forced to take reps of the mental variety. Bridgewater estimated that he is getting about 2 percent of the first-team reps in practice, so he has to make the most of the ones he gets in individual drills and when running the scout team.
