FLOWERY BRANCH — Since he started play in Pop Warner football during his youth in Arizona, Falcons running back Bijan Robinson has a pregame ritual with his grandmother Gerri Robinson.
Before the Falcons faced Seattle on Sunday, he found her, and they held hands and prayed before the game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Started in Pop Warner, then in high school,” Robinson said. “I’ll call them, or if I see them there, then I’ll go over to them. We’ll say a prayer before we get started.”
Robinson and the Falcons (4-3) are set to face the Buccaneers (4-3) in a big NFC South matchup at 1 p.m. Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
In the loss to Seattle, Robinson had his most productive game of the season, with 103 yards rushing and 26 receiving, for 129 yards from scrimmage.
He has rushed for 483 yards and had 237 yards receiving to go with four rushing touchdowns. Robinson, who is in his second season in the NFL, is on pace for 1,750 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns.
“Things are going great,” Robinson said. “We’re just really locked into this game right here. This is the big division game that we obviously want to pull out.”
Before losing to the Seahawks, the Falcons won three in a row over NFC South foes the Saints, Bucs and Panthers.
The Falcons had to put the Seattle loss behind them and move on. The Bucs have won the past three NFC South titles, and the Falcons can wrap up the head-to-head tiebreaker against them with a victory.
“We know what the task is,” Robinson said. “We didn’t let that last game linger at all. We understand that we have to come in here and go over there on Sunday and do what we’re supposed to do. Because I think that if we click on all levels, we’ll have the outcome that we want.”
Robinson is looking forward to his matchup with Tampa Bay veteran linebacker Lavonte David.
“I have full respect for him,” Robinson said. “I think he’s a tremendous player. Just how he handles himself. How he handles the defense. Even for how long he’s played in the league, he’s still a very effective player, and he moves very well.”
David, who played at Nebraska, is in his 13th season in the NFL. In the most recent Falcons-Bucs meeting, a 36-30 overtime win by the Falcons on Oct. 3, David had eight tackles and an interception.
“I respect him a lot,” Robinson said. “I watch a lot of this tape. I watch how he attacks the ball, attacks running backs, running sideline to sideline and how he covers. He’s one player that I play against that I respect a lot.”
Robinson watched David and the Bucs this week when they played the Ravens on “Monday Night Football.” The Ravens won 41-31.
“It was a pound-for-pound game with the Ravens,” Robinson said. “They ran the ball very well. They executed well on offense. But I feel that was their game. Against us, they’re going to come down with their game plan and come out differently.”
The Falcons split the series with the Bucs last season, with each team winning on the road.
“We have to match that intensity and bring the execution,” Robinson said. “What the Ravens did on Monday, was they executed a lot. For us, if we do the same thing, then we can have the same outcome.”
Robinson’s outing against Seattle was his third game of rushing for more than 100 yards, and his first 100-yard game of the season.
“We have very high standards in the running back (group),” Robinson said. “We expect that standard every time we touch the field. To have great games like that. For me, I mean, I’m glad that God blessed me to do that.
“But we want to get the win at the end of the day, too. That’s the most important thing, is to win.”
In the win Oct. 3, Robinson rushed for 61 yards and had 16 yards receiving.
Robinson is hoping that the Falcons can get back on a roll. He’s not a big fan of losing.
“I think all losses hurt to me,” Robinson said. “I’ll be in the locker room all sad. Y’all see me in the locker room, at my locker just my head down. … You never want to lose a game. That’s not the goal. You work too hard throughout the week to go in there and not have the outcome that you want.”
But when he has those tough times, he leans on his faith.
“But for me, like I just try to try to push through it and take it as a positive,” Robinsons said. “Do what I can to help the team get over that so that we can get wins on other weeks.”
Robinson had a couple of dazzling runs against Seattle, when he was weaving his way through traffic and bouncing off defenders before finishing strong.
“I say it all the time, God has, like, timing,” Robinson said. “His timing is always perfect. He’s going to lead you in the right moments at the right time. For me, I just keep on working hard.”
Robinson has trouble describing his runs.
“When you’re in the zone and you’re feeling it like, you just can’t go down, or you just can’t have a bad play or have a negative play,” Robinson said. “I always try to strive to be in those (zones) every single game. It was definitely like, I was feeling it.”
Robinson hopes to get back into the zone.
“But from here on out, I want to continue to keep feeling so that we can help the team out, help the offense, so that we can get wins like that, too,” Robinson said.
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