


James Robinson will not be suiting up for the Patriots this year after all.
The Patriots released the 24-year-old running back on Monday, cutting bait on the player they signed just three months before.
The tailback’s health played a role in his release, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported, tweeting that Robinson “couldn’t stay on the field.”
Robinson, whom the Jets acquired from the Jaguars last season via trade, signed a deal with the Patriots that protected the team from his injury history.
The running back, who tore his Achilles in 2021, agreed to a two-year contract with a reported base value of $4 million in March, but the deal included no guaranteed money as well as injury waivers and split salaries if Robinson hit the injured reserve.
Robinson’s release came on the first day of Patriots’ mandatory minicamp, which is when players usually take physical examinations.
Robinson’s lack of explosiveness was “noticeable,” Evan Lazar of Patriots.com reported Monday.
New England’s running back depth behind lead ball-carrier Rhamondre Stevenson, who posted a career-best 210 carries and 69 receptions last season, remains a question mark.
The Patriots are looking to fill the backfield void created by the departure of Damien Harris, who shouldered the second-most carries on the team last year and signed with the Bills in free agency.
Head coach Bill Belichick could look to sophomore tailbacks Pierre Strong Jr. and Kevin Harris to step up, as well as 30-year-old veteran Ty Montgomery.
Robinson’s Jets tenure was not without tumult: the former Jaguar was frustrated by his lack of playing time in New York in the wake of Breece Hall’s ACL tear.
“Obviously, I didn’t come here not to play,” Robinson said at the time. “Obviously, they brought me here for a reason. I don’t expect anything unless I work for it, and I’ve been working my ass off. Me not playing pisses me off.”
Robinson, who was Jacksonville’s lead back in 2020 and ’21, ran for a career-best 1,070 yards during his rookie season in 2020, when he also made 49 catches and totaled 10 touchdowns.