Robinson’s heroics kept Hawks close
FOXBORO, Mass. _ He caught two passes on the opening drive, which said as much about the Seattle Seahawks’ confidence in Koren Robinson as it did about Robinson himself.
The man who had lost the patience of fans throughout Seattle because of his never-ending dropped passes hadn’t lost the faith of those who really mattered the most. And so they kept throwing to him.
Even after Robinson dropped the third ball thrown his way, drawing a flag in the process because he pushed off a defender. Even after he laid his body out and got both hands on the ball, barely missing what would have been a long gainer. After a high pass in the end zone went just off his fingertips, and another hit him right on the numbers _ only to bounce off and hit the turf.
They kept throwing his direction. And it paid off.
By the time the Seahawks had dropped a heart-breaking 30-20 decision to the New England Patriots, Robinson had a game-high nine receptions for 150 yards. The man who drew so much ire from Seahawks fans had almost single-handedly kept his team in the game.
So they kept on throwing to him.
“If you’re dropping passes, and you’re one of our guys, I’m going to keep throwing it at you,” Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said in the post-game press conference. “I’m going to try to keep you involved in the game, to keep your confidence high.”
Depending on the count, Robinson entered Sunday’s contest with around seven drops through the Seahawks’ first four games. He got his hands on several catchable balls in the New England game, but only the one that hit him on the numbers was a true drop.
Other than that, he proved to be dependable while showing the play-making ability that made Robinson the ninth overall pick in the 2001 NFL draft. Robinson made diving catches, fought for extra yards, and held onto the ball on key third downs.
Yet after matching his career high for receptions in a game, Robinson only wanted to talk about the one that got away.
“It’s frustrating,” he said of the dropped pass on second down late in the first half. “I know they’re counting on me. I’m not going to let it get me down, but I know I’m better than that.
“I’m going to keep working at it. I have to come out before practice, after practice, and keep working at it. They’re going to come to me.”
They kept coming to him Sunday. Robinson made five catches in the second half, including four that went for at least 18 yards. On one occasion, he hauled in a 31-yard pass along the sideline and got flagged for a celebratory spinning of the ball.
Perhaps his most impressive catch was a diving snag near the end zone that Robinson caught out of bounds.
“He gets down on himself, like I do myself, but drops are going to happen,” said Darrell Jackson, Robinson’s closest friend on the team. “It’s not what you do, but how you make up for it. And I think he more than made up for that one drop.”