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It was like the good old days for Aldrick Robinson.
In 2012, while Robinson was playing for Washington, Kirk Cousins threw him a 49-yard touchdown pass in a pre-season game in Chicago. It was his first TD in an NFL game.
In 2014, the two men were again in pre-season for a 10-yard touchdown against New England.
They never qualified for a touchdown of the regular season until Sept. 27, when they had two losses in a 38-31 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. This is Robinson's second game with the Vikings since receiving the wide receivers signed on September 17th.
"This connection is back," Robinson said.
Cousins and Robinson were teammates of the 2012-14 Redskins, when Cousins was the alternate quarterback. The five touchdowns of Robinson's regular season were then launched by Robert Griffin III.
The cousins played a role in obtaining Minnesota's signature of Robinson. After catching a 9-yard pass on September 23 against Buffalo in his Vikings debut, Robinson made two catches for 33 yards against the Rams. One was a TD reception of 16 yards in the first quarter and the other a 17-yard pass in the second quarter.
"It's always good to be in the end zone as a receiver," Robinson said.
While Robinson was clearly the target of the first score, he thought the second pass was for Kyle Rudolph. The two were close to each other in the end zone.
"He took a tight turn based on his adaptation to what he saw there, and I think Kirk threw it to him," Robinson said. "Actually, I waited to see if he was going to catch it, and once I saw him fall, I just took it myself."
Robinson hopes his game against the Rams will lead to more targets. The Vikings play Sunday in Philadelphia.
"I have the ability to play and I just learned the offensive," said Robinson. "But I'm learning the offensive a lot better now, so they can use me in a lot more ways."
FACING WENTZ AGAIN
The Vikings will face Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz for the second time.
Two years ago, when Minnesota came in 5-0, Wentz completed 16 of his 28 passes for a total of 138 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in a Eagles 21-10 win at Lincoln Financial Field. Wentz was then a rookie from the state of North Dakota.
Wentz had an MVP season in 2017 before suffering a torn ACL in Game 13. Nick Foles started the last six games of the regular season and playoffs, including a 38-7 victory over Minnesota in the NFC championship game in Philadelphia and a 41-32 loss to New England in Super Bowl LII at US Bank Stadium.
Foles started the first two games of the season before Wentz was healthy enough to take over in the third week.
"We played him his rookie year and they kept things pretty basic," said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer. "Now he rushes and runs, a big arm, throws the ball well, sees the covers."
The Vikings' defensive tackle, Sheldon Richardson, faced Wentz last year while he was in Seattle. The Seahawks won 24-10 a game before Wentz's injury, but he was 348 yards.
"His arm did not die, he just injured his leg," said Richardson. "Most definitely, he's still the same guy I remember playing."
BROTHERS BACK ON THE ALIGNMENT
The Vikings activated linebacker Kentrell Brothers from the suspended list. To free up space, they released guard Bryan Witzmann.
Brothers was suspended for the first four games for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing substance policy and returned to practice this week. The Vikings had an exception in his lineup on Monday, but decided to bring him back to face the Eagles.
The Vikings signed Witzmann, a native of St. Paul, on September 10. He was inactive during the three games of which he was a part.
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