Not wanting to just give away starting roster spots, the Buffalo Bills signed P Brad Robbins officially on Tuesday. This came following reports Monday afternoon that an agreement was in place.
Robbins was originally a Cincinnati Bengals seventh round pick out of Michigan in 2023. He appeared in all 17 games that season, punting 76 times for an average of 44.3 yards, and a long of 62 yards.
Read below for a full injury history on Brad Robbins and analysis.
Injury History
College
2018/2019 Michigan
Microdiscectomy L5-S1, missed the entire 2018 season, most of the 2019 season totaling 24 games.
Robbins underwent a microdiscectomy of L5-S1 in August prior to the 2018 season and missed 13 games. He then missed the first 11 games of the 2019, returning to play against Ohio State and Alabama.
NFL
2023 Cincinnati Bengals
No publicly reported injuries.
2024 Bengals
Right Hip Flexor strain, preseason, placed on IR, missed 4 games.
Robbins was practicing kickoffs as the emergency kicker during preseason when he injured his right hip flexor. During roster cut downs, he was placed on injured reserve and missed the first four games of the season before he was activated and released.
Buffalo Bills Injury Analysis
Normally when performing special teams injury analysis, there isn’t much there. However, Robbins has some notable injuries including a herniated disc that required surgery and a hip flexor strain.
Looking at his herniated disc, these types of injuries are not uncommon, especially in flexion based activities such as kicking. In the YouTube video linked above, Robbins noted that he herniated his disc while squatting. After conservative means did not address the issues, he underwent a microdiscectomy. To read more about a microdiscectomy, click here.
Considering how short the college season is compared to the pro season along with getting back in shape, it’s not surprising that he missed the entire season. What isn’t clear is why he missed most of the next season. A regular timeline for this is 8-12 weeks plus time to get back into football shape, but he may have had complications or had to have another procedure to eliminate the issues.
These procedures have a success rate of greater than 80 percent when returning to prior level of performance. There is a small chance of requiring another procedure (15 percent) and a chance of herniating another disc (5-18 percent) but it appears that he’s avoided those issues to this point.
As for his hip flexor, he was practicing kickoffs which is a far different motion from punting. He noted that he was kicking at 70-80 percent , he felt a tweak, and that this was a freak accident. Considering this is his kicking leg, he may have hit the ground with his foot and not told the media or significant overuse led to this injury. This was also potentially a Grade 2 strain looking back at the timeline. He was forced to miss roughly six weeks of football due to his placement on injured reserve. By that time, Ryan Rehkow had established himself, Robbins was no longer needed, and he was waived.
Final Thoughts
This is a more significant injury history than I was expecting. The hip flexor strain was more unlucky due to the timing of the injury in camp but the more notable issue is the microdiscectomy.
Fortunately, the Bills are very aware of medical histories and have had several players undergo this procedure including Jake Kumerow and Spencer Brown. Kumerow did not play football after his procedure as he was at the end of his career but Brown has excelled since then.
Keep in mind, his procedure was back in 2018 which suggests this isn’t an issue moving forward. His punting below further suggests this and the fact that his hip flexor is fully healed.
As long as Robbins doesn’t do activities that he isn’t used to doing, it looks like he will be alright moving forward into 2025. He will still have to be the backup kicker in case Tyler Bass goes down but I don’t have any concerns his hip flexor strain will reoccur.
It’s a one-year deal with the chance to compete for a starting job. There isn’t much to dislike as long as he can do his job and hold well, then he has a shot to stick around.
I wish Brad Robbins the best of luck this season and to remain healthy.
Top Photo Credit: Cooper Neill/Getty Images
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