BY JIM THOMAS | Posted: Thursday, October 7, 2010
On his website,
Fred Robbins Official Website, is a feature called "Ask Fred," in which fans can e-mail questions to the veteran Rams defensive tackle.
Interesting, because Robbins holds another version of Ask Fred just about every day at Rams Park. The 33-year-old Robbins is surrounded by pups in the locker room. Six of his nine defensive linemates had two years or less of NFL experience entering this season. Three are rookies. And they have plenty of questions.
"It's like on pass rush, or run block situations, he'll give me his ins and outs — whatever he knows," rookie defensive end Eugene Sims said. "And I just take it and try to use it."
Or they may ask how to watch game film. What to look for on tape. How to stay healthy. How to eat right. And when Robbins talks ...
"It's short but sweet," Sims said. "He knows what he's talking about. He ain't been in it for 11 years for nothing. He knows what he's doing."
There's personality behind the presence.
"He's just a happy, energetic kind of guy," safety Craig Dahl said. "Always in a good mood. Always willing to pick up a teammate if he sees someone struggling. Fred's just a big jolly guy."
But Santa Claus is a big, jolly guy. And Santa can't play defensive tackle in the NFL. Robbins can. In fact, he's doing it better than anyone — perhaps even coach Steve Spagnuolo — expected back in March when the Rams signed him to a free-agent deal.
On a star-studded New York Giants defensive line that included luminaries such as Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiori, Robbins was the unheralded anchor in the middle during the team's Super Bowl championship run three seasons ago.
But then Robbins started to break down. He battled his way through 2008 with two broken hands and a shoulder injury, then had offseason knee surgery. Last season, he was replaced in the Giants' starting lineup over the final third of the season.
So far in St. Louis, Robbins has been revitalized. At the defensive tackle position, stats rarely tell the story. By the numbers, Robbins has nine tackles, one sack, three quarterback hits and two pass breakups this season. (OK, and that costly shove of Bruce Gradkowski in Game 2 at Oakland that resulted in an unnecessary roughness penalty.)
But take it from Dahl, who also was Robbins' teammate for two seasons with the Giants:
"You would never know Fred's as old as he is. He uses a lot of his experience to his advantage, too. He was able to read that screen last week. Sniff that out."
With the Seahawks desperately trying to get back in the game in the fourth quarter, Robbins dropped speedy Leon Washington in his tracks for no gain on a screen pass...
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