Cam Robinson part of Jacksonville Jaguars' transformation into tougher team

Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Cam Robinson could become the sixth Alabama alumnus to play in the Super Bowl as an NFL rookie.

To do that, Robinson and the Jaguars will have to get past the defending Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, in the AFC championship game on Sunday.

For now, the list of Alabama rookies who've played in the Super Bowl includes Miami Dolphins running back Joe Carter in the NFL championship game for the 1984 season, Denver Broncos running back Billy Humphrey in 1989, New York Giants defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin in 2000, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Cornelius Wortham in 2005 and Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw in 2012.

Before getting Robinson in the second round of the NFL Draft on April 28, Jacksonville hadn't been to the playoffs since the 2007 season, and the Jaguars posted a 3-13 record last year.

This season, Jacksonville won the AFC South with a 10-6 regular-season record. Two playoffs victories have followed - 10-3 over the Buffalo Bills on Jan. 7 and 45-42 over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Robinson has been a part of a transformation in Jacksonville that laid the groundwork for the turnaround in the Jaguars' record. Jacksonville set out to be a tougher, more physical team in 2017.

The Jaguars started down that road by naming Doug Marrone the head coach. He had guided the team in the final two games of 2016 after Gus Bradley was fired. Jacksonville also brought in Tom Coughlin, a two-time Super Bowl winner as the coach of the New York Giants, as the executive vice president of football operations.

Then Jacksonville used the fourth choice in the 2017 NFL Draft on 240-pound, pile-driving running back Leonard Fournette of LSU and spent their second selection on Robinson.

During the 2017 regular season, Jacksonville ran the football more times for more yards than any other team in the NFL.

"We've just got to be ready to set the edge, play physical in the run game, take on blockers, shed blockers, tackle -- just try to play physical," New England safety Duron Harmon said of the objective of the Patriots' defense against Jacksonville. "This is going to be a physical game, probably the most physical game we play this year. But we're going to need our physicality to win this game."

Robinson has done more than road-grade for Fournette this season. As Jacksonville's left offensive tackle, he's lined up against some of the top pass-rushers in the NFL and has yielded 3.5 sacks, including the playoff games. In Sunday's victory over Pittsburgh, the Steelers didn't register a sack of Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles even though they led the NFL in sacks during the 2017 regular season.

Robinson said the biggest adjustment from Alabama to the NFL for his rookie season was the complexity of Jacksonville's offense.

"I think, honestly, it was the volume of the playbook," Robinson told the Jaguars' official web site. "But once you get that and you're able to figure out exactly what you're doing, you're able to play."

Robinson fulfilled a lifelong dream by reaching the NFL.

"Growing up, it was always something that was a goal of mine, something I always wanted to do," Robinson said. "I was just kind of doing everything I needed to do to get to the next stage."

Robinson started all 43 games he played at Alabama at left offensive tackle. In his final season, he earned unanimous All-American recognition and won the Outland Trophy as the nation's top interior lineman.

But he wasn't a first-round draft pick.

"You're always going to be excited about getting drafted," Robinson said. "I was a little disappointed, a little upset about slipping to where I slipped to. But I just wanted to kind of use that as a chip on my shoulder."

The Jaguars traded their second-round selection and a sixth-round choice to the Seattle Seahawks to move up one slot in the second round to get Robinson with the 34^th pick.

In the offseason, plenty of the Jaguars' press corps predicted Robinson would begin his NFL career at guard even though Marrone maintained Robinson was a left tackle.

That left Robinson to compete with nine-year veteran Branden Albert for the position. Jacksonville had traded for the two-time Pro Bowler in March, but on July 31, Albert announced his retirement. In Jacksonville's three training-camp practices, Albert had worked with the first-team offense two days and Robinson had done so one day.

A little over a week later, Albert said he'd like to come back. The Jaguars had identified Robinson as their left tackle by then and released Albert on Aug. 11 without ever bringing him back to camp.

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The Jaguars and Patriots will kick off at 2:05 p.m. CST Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. CBS will televise the game.

The winner will advance to Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4, when it will play either the Minnesota Vikings or Philadelphia Eagles for the NFL's 2017 championship.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.

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