The Green Bay Packers decided to keep Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon, and Emanuel Wilson as their three running backs on the 53-man roster, but they made a change on the practice squad.

After promoting Patrick Taylor and releasing him after the Las Vegas Raiders game, the Packers added former Jacksonville Jaguars running back James Robinson.

The logic is simple: Taylor had already expired his limit of elevations from the practice squad for gameday, so he would need to be on the active roster to play for the rest of the season. They can elevate Robinson three times, giving the team more roster flexibility.

But what is James Robinson right now?

In 2021, he suffered a serious Achilles injury, and his career has gone south since. After being an All-Rookie running back in 2020, he changed teams last year, going from the Jacksonville Jaguars to the New York Jets. This year, he spent some time with the New England Patriots, but didn't even make it to training camp. He then signed with the New York Giants, where he played the preseason.

And his performance wasn't very promising, which explains why he didn't make the 53-man roster or the practice squad in New York.

All of James Robinson's 2023 preseason carries part 2 (Game 3) pic.twitter.com/WfG7WDIvNe

— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) October 17, 2023

Robinson had three preseason games for the Giants. Against the Detroit Lions, he had six carries for nine yards (1.5 per carry). Against the Carolina Panthers, he ran four times for 10 yards (2.5 yards per carry). And versus the New York Jets, Robinson had his best game: 10 carries for 55 yards (5.5 yards per carry).

James Robinson totaled 20 carries for 74 yards in the preseason, averaging 3.7 yards per carry. He didn't record any receptions.

Even though the Achilles injury was a turning point in his career, James Robinson said, right after signing with the Patriots back in May, that the issue is not a concern anymore.

"Coming off the Achilles, there was a lot of talk that 'he's not going to be this or not going to be that,'" Robinson stressed. "But I felt like at the start of that year (2022), when I came back, I was doing pretty fine. And I haven't had a problem with it since."

According to his draft profile by Lance Zierlein, Robinson was a "reliable runner with good feel for run-lane development but just average burst" coming out of college. That combination might be enough even though the situation isn't great, as the Packers have had offensive line issues — the team is 29th in run block win rate.

James Robinson preseason average of yards per rush, for instance, would put him second among Packers running backs, behind only Aaron Jones (4.2). AJ Dillon was the primary runner while Jones was injured, and he had a mediocre 3.0 yards per carry average — and that is still best than Patrick Taylor (2.8) and Emanuel Wilson (2.2).

Hidden benefit

James Robinson spent the last three months of last season playing for the New York Jets. The numbers weren't great whatsoever, as he averaged just 2.9 yards per carry. But the Jets offensive coordinator was Mike LaFleur, brother of Packers head coach Matt.

They come from the same offensive tree and share schematic verbiage. That means Robinson already has a good feel of the system, and the adaptation will be easier. This is particularly important as the Packers don't seem to trust rookie Emanuel Wilson yet, so Robinson may be elevated for games relatively soon.

Even if the upside isn't high, the Packers needed to add another option at running back, and it's hard to find a real difference-maker available to sign to a practice squad in October. Especially someone with real NFL experience.

Packers sign RB James Robinson

Former Jaguars had worket out in Green Bay