It appears running back Brian Robinson Jr. may have played his final snap for the Washington Commanders. Amid trade rumors, Robinson did not play in Washington's second preseason matchup vs. the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night and was not even in the stadium. Robinson also did not suit up for Washington's first preseason game vs. the New England Patriots.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported Monday afternoon that this is a mutual decision between Robinson and the Commanders, as a trade before the 53-man roster cutdown day remains possible. After the game, Commanders coach Dan Quinn told reporters that he and general manager Adam Peters met with Robinson on Sunday and that there are "a lot of moving parts" with the situation as it currently stands. The team was also in the loop. 

"Adam and I met with Brian [Sunday] knowing that we would hold him out of the game," Quinn said. "There's just a lot of moving parts. This time of year, those things take place. That's my responsibility to let the team know whenever I can so they're not hearing information from anywhere else."

Commanders-Bengals takeaways: Cincinnati defense is major issue, Washington RBs shine without Brian Robinson

Zachary Pereles

Robinson, who was selected by the Commanders in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Alabama, is set to enter the final year of his rookie contract. He rushed 187 times for a career-high 799 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024. While Robinson was Washington's lead running back over Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez Jr., rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was the Commanders' leading rusher with 891 yards and seven touchdowns.

Ekeler, McNichols and Rodriguez are still under contract in Washington, but the Commanders also have an interesting rookie in Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who was a seventh-round pick out of Arizona. Eligibility issues held Merritt to just one game played last season, in which he rushed 13 times for 106 yards and one touchdown.

Robinson has rushed for 2,329 yards and 15 touchdowns in 41 NFL games played. He has crossed 700 yards rushing in all three of his NFL seasons, and famously battled back from a scary incident in which he was shot twice during an armed robbery prior to the start of his first NFL season in 2022.