This Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears rumor is just plain wrong

About a year and a half ago, former Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace cut off contract negotiations with wide receiver Allen Robinson and his camp. Instead, Pace allow Robinson to play out the final year of his original 3-year contract before slapping him with the franchise tag.

Robinson had desired an extension and figured he was worth top dollar, but it was clear that Pace and the Bears had a different viewpoint.

That 2020 season saw Robinson get targeted a whopping 151 times and finish with a career-high 102 receptions. No matter who the quarterback was, Robinson was peppered with targets.

However, in 2021, that target number dropped drastically to 66 over a 12-game span, and Robinson finished with just 38 receptions. Now, there’s a rumor out there that the Bears purposely schemed Robinson out of the offense.

The rumor stating the Chicago Bears purposely schemed Allen Robinson out of the offense is absurd.

Bears fan and Twitter personality, Max Markham, shares this exact sentiment. While Robinson actually replied to this very tweet with the numbers “154, 151, 66…” in effort to prove a point about his targets, the idea is still just plain absurd.

Look at the facts.

Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace were already on the hot seat. Their jobs were no where near safe last season. There is absolutely zero chance the two of them plotted together to scheme the team’s so-called best wide receiver out of the offense altogether.

Robinson even told the media, himself, that he did not have any real time to develop a relationship with Justin Fields last year. Therefore, when Fields took over the starting job, he did not have chemistry with Robinson.

"“There weren’t any snaps that we kind of took in training camp. A lot of these things, we’re trying to build on.”"

Robinson is correct. Blame a little bit of it on Nagy, if you will. The fact there was no chemistry between Fields and Robinson is the coach’s fault. However, the complete lack of effort on the field?

That’s on the player.

Watching Robinson’s 2021 campaign, you saw a player who was disinterested, disengaged and not motivated in the least bit.

There was no effort there in blocking. If the Bears called a run play, Robinson wouldn’t even try to sell a route for the first half-second after the snap. It was a light jog, accompanied without a block.

There were countless times Robinson failed to put forth effort on the field in 2021. Now, Pace is to blame for the deteriorating relationship between Robinson and the Bears. But, that is no excuse for Robinson to check out and quit on his teammates, which is exactly what he did on many plays in 2021.

The Bears didn’t purposely scheme Robinson out of the offense. Robinson’s poor attitude and lack of trying had more to do with it than anything.