LAKE FOREST, Ill. — In the middle of Chicago Bears training camp during a fully padded practice on Field 1 at Halas Hall, defensive end Dominique Robinson sacked quarterback Justin Fields so quickly he nearly ruined a drill all by himself.
“It was me and on the inside Andrew Billings,” Robinson said then. “We’re still working on who got that sack. We both got there.”
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Most observers standing in the end zone behind Fields and the first-team offense jotted down Robinson’s number, though. How he got to Fields in that two-minute situation must be discussed more. It’s not only important for him but also for the success of the Bears defense.
“Honestly, the two pass reps in the previous period before that, I went power on Braxton two times,” Robinson said. “So it was kind of the setup. And then I felt that he wasn’t doing something his norm and I hit him with a wipe, a two-arm swipe, rip. And it opened up.”
What opened was a path to Fields, who made up for it with a long completion to DJ Moore on the next play. But if the drill was live, Robinson would have hit Fields and the ball might have come loose. Coach Matt Eberflus called the sack himself.
For Robinson, it was a win against his toughest competition in camp.
“I’ve watched a lot of tape on Braxton because that’s who I struggle with the most,” Robinson told The Athletic. “He’s strong, and his arms are really long. So you kind of have to do things a little different than you would with other guys.”
With Robinson’s adding more moves to his pass rush, the challenges also have increased for Jones, who is entrenched as the starting left tackle. He needed to be challenged.
“The biggest thing with Dominique from Year 1 to Year 2 is probably his get-off,” Jones said. “And I’ve said that to him. It’s just a night-and-day difference.”
There have been wins and losses on both sides. But it’s the ideal situation. The Bears have two second-year players — who were drafted only six picks apart — developing together, albeit on different sides of the ball but in premium positions.
Two days of practices against the Indianapolis Colts gave Jones opportunities to face different defensive ends but also a moment to see Robinson’s quickly improving bull rush live in action against a different offensive tackle.
“There was a rep against one of their left tackles, where (Robinson) just put him on his butt,” Jones told The Athletic. “He stuttered and then bulled, and then just put him on his butt — and it takes power to do that. Some of us have really good balance.”
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Robinson couldn’t do that consistently last season. But the Bears drafted Robinson with the 174th selection believing such plays would show up at this level after he played receiver his first two years at Miami of Ohio. He switched to defense in 2020 during the pandemic.
“I had moves, but I really didn’t have a lot of them and I wasn’t really good at all of them,” said Robinson, who is listed at 6 feet 5 and 253 pounds. “They knew everything that I was going to do. I was going to go speed and not defer from speed. I would win sometimes, but they would catch me a lot of times.”
Jones included. But now Robinson presents different challenges. Once the pads went on in camp, Robinson said he felt his own moves develop. He felt momentum with his rushes. He stacked good days. His speed turned into power.
That wasn’t the case last season even when his own coaches demanded it.
“They were telling me last year that I got to go power, but … it was one of the things where I wasn’t comfortable,” Robinson said. “I’m more comfortable with it. And it’s opened up a lot of things for me.”
Jones would know better than most. He dealt with it every day in practice during camp.
“I praise Dominique for working on that,” said Jones, the 168th pick last year. “And it helped me because I needed the same thing — seeing it and sitting on it better. And he still catches me every now and then. But that’s why, you know, iron sharpens iron.”
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Rushing rookie right tackle Darnell Wright and beating him take different tactics from facing Jones.
“He’s good with his feet,” Robinson said. “I’ve had some reps against him where I’m like, ‘I should have won.’ But his feet are so good. He was able to recover and put his body in the position to where he would win. Because I would watch it on tape, and I’m like, ‘I don’t understand how I didn’t win this rep.’ But his feet are really good.”
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Beating Wright, Jones and other offensive tackles take a plan. It’s the first thing Robinson mentioned he learned while playing with Robert Quinn last season.
“Always have a plan,” Robinson said. “Know what he’s going to do, know how that person you’re going against operates and have a move set up before you do the rep. Don’t be like, ‘I’m about to do a rep on a whim.’”
If you do, that will only work sparingly. This year, Robinson can include more in his plan. He can try to set up tackles.
“It’s way different this year,” Robinson said. “I’ve got a lot of tools on my tool belt. And I’m using every single one of them. So whatever they throw at me, whatever, I’ve got an answer for it.”
Then it’s on Jones to find his answers for what Robinson is doing.
“It’s almost like a vocabulary of moves. He’s grown that to be bigger, and he’s not such a one-shot kind of guy,” Jones said. “That’s one of the big things, too. He’s widened his variety of moves.”
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The second thing Robinson took from Quinn was where to look.
“Rob was a big watch-the-ball guy,” Robinson said. “The ball will tell you everything in terms of getting off. Ever since then, man, my get-off has been pretty solid.”
Jones would know. He congratulated Robinson in camp for it. But it has also helped Jones, who said he needed to improve what he does with his first step despite knowing the snap count.
“This year, I’m even quicker off the ball — and he’s right there with me, too,” Jones said. “And his understanding of how I play and stuff like that has grown, too. So the matchup is great. I love it.”
The Bears do, too.
(Top photo of Dominique Robinson working against Darnell Wright: Courtesy of the Chicago Bears)
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