When will James Robinson return from his Achilles injury?

James Robinson wasn’t supposed to be more than a second or third running back on the Jacksonville Jaguars depth chart last season. But a preseason foot injury to first-round pick Travis Etienne followed by an early season injury to Carlos Hyde, meant that Robinson had the backfield all to himself. He put up a solid effort, running for 767 yards and eight touchdowns on 164 carries before a torn Achilles ended his season in December.

Injury news

An Achilles injury is no small thing, and suffering one late in the season certainly puts Robinson’s availability for the start of 2022 in doubt. In late March, head coach Doug Pederson said that Robinson would not be available until training camp, but that feels like an optimistic estimate given the seriousness of his injury. Beyond that, the Jaguars have no need to rush him back either.

2022 Fantasy football outlook

Etienne was cleared to participate in offseason activities this spring, and he’s on track to be close to 100 percent for training camp. The starting running back should be his once again. That would make Robinson the No. 2, if he’s healthy. Without Robinson, Snoop Conner, a fifth-round pick out of Mississippi State in thus year’s draft, will battle for the backup job.

It’ll be worth keeping an eye on the Jaguars’ training camp and preseason to see how the depth chart shakes out. Etienne should be good to go, but if his injury has at all slowed him down, they might be forced to use Conner or someone else on a regular basis.