Cam Robinson injury spells trouble against Chiefs

The Jacksonville Jaguars were excited to welcome left tackle Cam Robinson back from the PUP list in August. Now, they deal with another knee injury.

In Week 2 of last season, Robinson tore the ACL in his left knee, putting him out for the season. After practicing on Wednesday and Thursday, Robinson was listed as a DNP on Friday after having his right knee buckle during a pass set. The 23-year-old has been listed as doubtful for Jacksonville’s Week 1 affair against the Kansas City Chiefs, leaving reserve guard Will Richardson to start on Nick Foles’ blindside.

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Losing Cam Robinson against Kansas City is a major concern for a variety of reasons. For starters, Richardson has never played a meaningful down in the NFL at left tackle. In his debut assignment on the line’s marquee position, Richardson will be matched up against Frank Clark. Clark has notched 32 sacks over his past three seasons, and came over in a trade from the Seattle Seahawks which saw first and second-round choices going back.

Clark will move around the front but will take the majority of his snaps over Richardson. Look for Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to brings stunts and twists as well, testing Richardson’s ability to pick up assignments on the fly.

Losing Cam Robinson against any opponent is a five-alarm situation. Doing so against the Chiefs is even more critical as they have the league’s best offense. If Kansas City can get out in front by a few scores — no easy task against a very good Jaguars defense — Foles will be forced into obvious passing downs for an extended period of time.

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Hopefully, Robinson isn’t out an extended period of time. With the retirement of Andrew Luck in Indianapolis, the AFC South is arguably the most wide-open division in football. The Jaguars don’t have a high-powered offense by any stretch, but if the unit hopes to be the best version of itself, Robinson needs to be in the fold far more often than not.

With the Chiefs coming to town on Sunday, Richardson will be the player to watch in Jacksonville this weekend. A job well done, and Foles has a chance to pull off the upset against a favorite to win Super Bowl LIV. A poor job, and the Jaguars could end up with a bruised quarterback and a home loss to begin the season.