Chop Robinson – December 2, 2024
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Monday, December 2, 2024
LB Chop Robinson
(I don’t know if you heard LB Jordyn Brooks’ comment afterwards that he thought the team was affected by the elements up in Green Bay. You’re somebody from the north, you played at Penn State, did the elements affect you? Did the elements affect the team in your opinion?) – “It was definitely different coming from here. Not being at Penn State for a while and going back to the cold, but I felt used to it. It’s definitely getting back into it and getting warm and everything, but the main thing, we just got to tackle, make the plays that were in front of us.”
(Does that happen to guys that come from those environments, but then you spend some time from Miami, you’ve been in warm weather for several months, and then once you go back that first time back it kind of hits you?) – “I mean, yeah. It hit me the day before when we got off the plane but I’m kind of used to it, so just got to go out there and just execute honestly.”
(Besides the missed tackles, what else came up when Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver talked to the group today as areas he wants shoring up in?) – “I mean that was the main thing, juts missed tackles. There’s times where it could have been a one-yard gain or two-yard gain, but we turned that into eight yards. The main thing is just tackling and stopping the ball.”
(Is it different with the fingers, like grabbing when it was cold? The hitting obviously hurts a little more when it’s cold but is it the wrapping up and stuff with the hands? Is that what gets affected by weather mostly?) – “Yeah, you could say that plays a factor but honestly at the end of the day, you just got to tackle, wrap up, run your feet through contact – that’s the main thing. I feel like we were wrapping up but not running our feet through contact, so just got to work on those.”
(You spent years at Penn State, you played in the cold like we talked about and then you come down here after getting drafted. You get off the plane and that humidity hits you in the face. So I guess my question is, what do you find more difficult, adjusting to that heat and humidity coming from the north, or coming from the south and going up north to play in cold?) – “I wouldn’t say either one is difficult, it’s just adjusting to it. Either the cold or the heat, whatever you’re in, you just got to adjust to it and be able to play in it. I wouldn’t say it’s difficult, it’s just something you got to get used to.”
(What do you think are some of the things that are contributing to your pass rush wins? The run you’ve been on of late that have now also translated to accumulating some sacks.) – “I would just say listening more to my coaches, just taking all the information from all the vets and all the older guys, watching film with them, working extra with them. It’s been paying off, so I’m just going to keep doing that.”
(What was the best thing about the run that you were on? Was it seeing the actual result with the sack or maybe the affirmation that you’re doing the right thing? 3.5 sacks in four games, what was the best thing about that?) – “Just taking in the information from the vets, doing everything that I could to make plays and make things happen, and once I took the information from the film room and on the field and took it to the game, it worked out for me. So I’m just going to continue that and then take it one day at a time.”
(What does that moment feel like when you’re doing the “Chop” celebration, and you have like eight guys behind you doing it with you?) – “It feels good, especially having Zach (Sieler). I feel like every time I did it, Zach was always right beside me. So just seeing Zach after every time I get a sack, it feels amazing just having the whole team do it with me.”
(How do you feel your pass rush arsenal has increased over your rookie season?) – “I feel like it opened up. I feel like once I came in, I would just focus on speed, that’s the only thing I had. But once I started to learn more against the tackles I was going against and talking with the older guys, I was able to open up my bag and figure out different moves, and I feel like it’s been working for me.”
(We hear that being wider has helped you, it’s given you the option of a two-way attack. Is that accurate? Or what has being wider, lining up wider, done for you?) – “It sets up different rushes for the tackle. I could use my speed; my main thing is getting off the ball, so once I get off, if he sees me so wide, he might try to run out to me. I could take the inside or power him, so it just sets up different moves for the tackle that I’m going against.”
(Are you using the power move more? It seems like you’re kind of running through offensive tackles more than you did, maybe six, seven games ago. Is that accurate or am I imagining that?) – “You could say it’s accurate. I always started off with that because I feel like a lot of tackles I’m going against, they see my size and they’ll be like, ‘He can’t power.’ So once I bring it to them, I just put them in their mind as it messes up their game a little bit.”
(I think you were two years old when QB Aaron Rodgers got drafted into the NFL. Did you grow up an Aaron Rodgers fan?) – “Yeah, my older brother, he was actually a Green Bay fan; he loved Aaron Rodgers. So I’m excited to go against him, excited to go against the Jets, excited to go against my former teammate (Olu Fashanu). When the game comes, I’m just excited to play.”
(What will a sack on QB Aaron Rodgers mean to you?) – “It would mean a lot. Just watching the guy when I was a baby, and then my older brother, that was his guy too. So just doing whatever I can for the team for the win.”
(Have you and OL Olu Fashanu talked this week? Or is there any Penn State talk there or Dolphins-Jets? Are you guys texting at all this week?) – “He texted me the other day just asking, ‘I better get that jersey.’ He told me that he better get that jersey after the game, and we’re definitely going to make that happen.”
(How was playing at Lambeau Field? How did that compare to I guess Seattle or some of the other places you played this season?) – “It was good. It was a lot of experience, a lot of history at that stadium so just going out there and just soaking it all in. Since I was a kid, I’ve been seeing it on TV, so it’s honestly a blessing just to be out there.”
(What are some of your memories of going against OL Olu Fashanu?) – “I would just say really one-on-ones everyday in practice. When I first got to Penn State, I kept hearing the hype about Olu (Fashanu) and then once I went out there, I tried to just burn him off the ball and he put me down to the ground. I was like, ‘OK, yeah. He’s the real deal.’ (laughter) So I would just say honestly, the one-on-ones that I went against him every day in practice, and he made me better.”
(And you would get your payback on him?) – “Oh yeah, 100%. Always got my payback.”
