There wasn't anything unusual about Allen Robinson II leading the Bears in receiving yards last Sunday night against the Saints, something he's now done in five straight games. But there was something special about his performance.
Robinson caught six passes for 87 yards and one touchdown in the Bears' 26-23 overtime loss at Soldier Field—after not practicing all week due to a concussion he had suffered six days earlier in a Monday night defeat to the Rams in Los Angeles.
The seventh-year pro was initially listed as doubtful last Friday before clearing the NFL's concussion protocol and being removed from the injury report on Saturday.
"Yeah, it was pretty crazy," Robinson said. "Not being able to practice, pretty much just trying to look at the game plan and just try to get it on the fly, that was probably the toughest part. I'm a big guy with muscle memory, being able to get there, get lined up whether it's through walk-through or practice. So not being able to do that all week was pretty tough."
Robinson scored the Bears' first touchdown on a diving 24-yard reception and set up their second TD with a 28-yard catch. His TD grab of a Nick Foles pass in the left corner of the end zone gave the Bears a 10-3 lead midway through the second quarter. Robinson beat cornerback Marshon Lattimore on the play.
"Based on how he was kind of playing and things like that," Robinson said, "I just kind of wanted to sell speed, get him a little off balance and then just run, and I was able to do that and Nick threw me a good ball."
In the fourth quarter, Robinson's 28-yard reception over the middle resulted in a first down at the Saints' 23. It led to Foles' 3-yard TD pass to Darnell Mooney, cutting the Bears' deficit to 23-20 with 3:32 remaining in regulation.
In overtime, Robinson made a sprawling 17-yard catch on third-and-15 to give the Bears a first down at their own 31. But they were forced to punt after Anthony Miller and Jimmy Graham dropped passes and Foles was sacked on third down.
Robinson will enter Week 9 ranked sixth in the NFL with 631 receiving yards and eighth with 50 catches. He's one of only three NFL receivers with at least 50 receptions, 631 yards and three TDs. The others are the Cardinals' DeAndre Hopkins (57-704-3) and the Bills' Stefon Diggs (54-695-3).
Robinson has caught a pass in all 80 NFL games he has played, the second-longest streak among active players. He also has at least three receptions in 16 consecutive games, the sixth longest active streak in the league.
