Darius Robinson smiles. A lot.
The Cardinals defensive lineman smiles when things are good. He often smiles even when things are not good. And to be fair, the good was in short supply this past season, certainly as a team and more than Robinson wanted on a personal level.
At one point, after the loss in Tampa in early December, he said postgame “I’m not who I thought I was.” And he acknowledged earlier in the season, when “I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted to see,” fun was hard to come by.
But Robinson was praised by coaches for his intangible efforts, and his run defense, and he doesn’t necessarily need to see stats to feel right. He’ll smile through the journey.
“I am process-driven,” Robinson said. “The results don’t matter as much, because we’re also not winning. So the process, how much I can go and the alignments we play and how much I can get better and do my job.
“We will have a long offseason to reflect. I want to give myself something positive to think about.”
Robinson had only one sack – “I have to affect the quarterback way more than I have the last two years” – and four tackles for loss over 43 tackles in 15 games, and as a first-round pick he knows that isn’t enough.
“I can be so much better, and I will be better,” he said.