Allen Robinson plays a self-promoters’ position, but, with rare exception — such as a vague social media post about his contract — he’d rather be known as a pass-catching robot, immune to the storylines of the week.
So it meant something when the Bears receiver acknowledged Sunday what it meant to, for the first time in his career, total 100 catches in a season — and to do it in the city where he spent the first four years of his career.
“I try not to get too much into the emotional side of it, especially with it being in-season,” Robinson said after the Bears’ 41-17 win in his return to TIAA Bank Field for the first time since 2017. “But after the season, looking back at it, I think that it will be, definitely, something cool …
“Right now, where we’re at in the season, everything is business — no matter who we play, no matter what it is.”
The Bears need him to take care of business Sunday against the Packers. With the playoffs on the line, the Bears’ stars need to play like stars. Despite the offensive growth the last three weeks, Robinson is the unit’s only star.
The last time Robinson played in such a meaningful game, he caught 10 balls for a franchise postseason record 143 yards in the Bears’ playoff loss to the Eagles two years ago. On the Bears’ last four possessions, he caught five passes for 112 yards.
Games like that — and like the upcoming Packers matchup — are why the Bears gave Robinson a three-year, $42 million contract when he was coming off a torn ACL three years ago. That proved too rich for the Jaguars, who let him leave.
The Bears could repeat the Jaguars’ mistake at the end of this season — they’ve been unable to reach a contract extension for the last nine months. Sunday’s game against the Packers, then, could be Robinson’s last in a Bears uniform.
If that’s the case, the Bears better start bracing now for a revenge game. Playing his former team for the first time on Sunday, Robinson caught 10 passes for 103 yards. He was still frustrated that he couldn’t haul in a two-yard touchdown catch along the left sideline.
“I strive for perfection and I hold myself to a certain standard,” he said.
Eight of his 10 catches went for first downs. He earned a ninth when he coaxed Jaguars cornerback Greg Mabin into a pass interference penalty.
None of his first downs was more impactful than his eight-yard reception on fourth-and-five on the Bears’ first possession of the third quarter. Up three, the Bears seized momentum and rattled off four-straight touchdowns.
The two that weren’t first downs? One was a nine-yard catch on second-and-15 that Robinson followed with a 12-yard catch on the next play. The other was catch No. 100 — a six-yarder on third-and-7 in the fourth quarter. The Bears converted on fourth down.
“His emotions don’t get too crazy, man, and that’s what you have to respect about a guy like that,” said Bears safety Tashaun Gipson, who played with Robinson in Jacksonville from 2016-17. “I think whether we were playing Jacksonville or Green Bay, I don’t think it was as personal for A-Rob as people probably would have assumed. …
“But do I think that was it a little sweet? Absolutely. Any time you can go and have [that] type of a performance against an old team that essentially let you walk, those things are personal. ...
“He’s just a guy who is business as usual, man. It doesn’t matter the situation or the team — he’s going to go out and do what he needs to do. He’s been doing that all year.”
