How Vikings left tackle Cam Robinson got himself ready to go

There was a fleeting moment during last week’s game between the Vikings and the Indianapolis Colts that perfectly encapsulated how much left tackle Cam Robinson was able to learn in such a short amount of time since joining the team.

On the particular play, Robinson ended up blocking the same defender as left guard Blake Brandel.

After being acquired by the Vikings last week in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Robinson had about 72 hours to learn as much of the new playbook as he could. Nobody would have blamed him for getting confused in the heat of battle.

Except for the fact that Robinson had it right. It was actually Brandel who had made the mistake in his blocking assignment.

“He knew it better than I did,” Brandel said with a laugh. “He did an awesome job.”

That brief mental lapse aside, Robinson leaned heavily on Brandel throughout the primetime game. He frequently asked questions to make sure he was on the same page as everybody else. Sometimes the communication between Robinson and Brandel went up until the moment the ball was snapped into quarterback Sam Darnold’s hands.

“He did an amazing job,” Robinson said of Brandel. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Fittingly, that was the same way right tackle Brian O’Neill spoke about Robinson, praising him for answering the bell.

“It’s super impressive how quickly he was able to pick everything up,” O’Neill said. “You could tell he’s been there and done that. That was pretty clear watching him play. He knows what’s required to play his position at a high level.”

That’s exactly what the Vikings were looking for as they canvassed the market in an attempt to replace injured left tackle Christian Darrisaw.

Though some contingency plans were already in the works after placing Darrisaw on injured reserve, head coach Kevin O’Connell was thrilled to find out that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had swung a deal to get Robinson.

You can’t teach the type of experience that Robinson brought with him.

“A veteran player with over 90 starts,” O’Connell said. “He knows how to play the game.”

That was evident in the way Robinson got himself ready to go.

After arriving in the Twin Cities last week, he dove headfirst into the playbook on order to familiarize himself with some of the basics of the offense before he even participated in his first practice at TCO Performance Center.

That gave him a baseline knowledge of what to expect and he then spent countless hours watching film with offensive line coach Chris Kuper and assistant offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett trying to get a grasp of what it was supposed to look like.

“It was a lot of extra work,” Robinson said. “I understood it was going to take that if I wanted to be prepared to play.”

The silver lining for Robinson was that he didn’t have to learn the playbook in its entirety while cramming for the test. He simply had to learn the gameplan with the Vikings set to host the Colts.

“I felt like I had a pretty good grip on what we were doing,” Robinson said. “I’m learning more as I go here.”

The hardest part for Robinson was getting the hang of some of the code words used in the trenches. It’s basically a different language that can be used in close quarters.

“There’s a lot of verbiage we use that is not universal,” Brandel said. “I’m sure every team has different words for different stuff and him being able pick that up was incredible.”

If the Vikings get to the line of scrimmage and center Garrett Bradbury notices something specific about the protection, for example, he has to communicate it to the offensive line without the defensive line understanding it.

“We’re not just going to go up there and say, ‘We’re double-teaming No. 44,’ ” O’Neill said. “Some of those calls we make at the line of scrimmage aren’t necessarily in the playbook and it’s not something we go over all the time.”

That’s why Bradbury was so impressed with Robinson and the sheer volume of information he was able to take in.

“I can’t even imagine what it was like for him,” Bradbury said. “This league is already challenging enough. Plus, we had lost a couple of games in a row, so there was a lot of urgency in this locker room. He’s a true pro, and I think that’s the best compliment an offensive lineman can get.”

After going through a practice and a walkthrough last week, Robinson was thrown into the fire for the game against the Colts. After paying close attention to Robinson in the early stages, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips soon realized he was more than capable of holding his own.

“There was this calmness where we weren’t worried about him,” Phillips said. “We all had a good confidence about us.”

After the Vikings put the finishing touches on a 21-13 win over the Colts, O’Connell addressed the team with a postgame speech in the locker room at U.S. Bank Stadium. Naturally, O’Connell made space to recognize Robinson for his efforts.

“Obviously it was a good feeling,” Robinson said. “I’ve still got to clean up and get better, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing right now.”

Let’s just say the circumstances this week are a little more conducive to success. That’s welcomed for Robinson as he prepares to go up against his former team when the Vikings play the Jaguars on Sunday at EverBank Stadium.

“His ability to go out there and play the way he did for us was a testament to him and the hard work he put in,” Bradbury said. “If that’s how he plays with 72 hours to prepare, imagine how he’ll play when he has even more time.”