MADRID (AP) — Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson had some advice for Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior on Thursday, when he also said he plans to meet with the Brazilian star and France star Kylian Mbappé while in Spain for a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Robinson has known Vinícius for some time and recently met with Mbappé — who also plays for Real Madrid — at the French national team's headquarters.
Vinícius has been struggling with Real Madrid, having scored just once for the club this season in a win over Real Sociedad in the Spanish league in August. He is serving a four-game suspension in La Liga for pulling an opponent's hair and protesting to the referee after being shown a red card.
Robinson, the NFL's rushing leader this season, said he plans to meet privately with Vinícius and Mbappé sometime before the Falcons' game Sunday against the Bengals.
“I’ll tell (Vinícius), just stay the course. Don’t worry about external noise, because once that creeps in, then you start to listen to it, and you start to believe what people have to say about you,” Robinson said after being asked what he could tell Vinícius to help him end his slump. “So I would say just stay off of any social media, and just little stuff like that, and just trust that God's plan for his career is going to be amazing no matter what the situation is.
“If you have an up-and-down or a low or something like that, we all have those moments and we all had those weeks,” Robinson said. “But for him, it’s just making sure that he’s doing all the things that he’s supposed to for his team and doing that at a high level. So when his number is called, it’s not a hesitation to do what he does best on the pitch."
Robinson, who wears No. 7 like Vinícius, has previously said they met through their jeweler when Brazil played in the United States a few years ago.
Robinson met with Mbappé and other France national team players and coaches last week during a promotional event for the NFL. Mbappé put on pads and a helmet and played some American football with Robinson, who later kicked a soccer ball around.
Robinson said that despite his great stats this season — he has 780 yards rushing after eight games — he doesn't feel like he's playing as the best running back in the league.
"I've got to be better for this team. I’ve got to be better for the offense,” he said. “Me and my running back coach, we always point this laser beam at the ceiling because we’re always trying to play at the highest level. And for us, helping my team win games is us playing at the highest level.”
Robinson said he wants to make the Falcons' run game “lethal and dominant.”
“When the run game is operating on a high level for this team, we’re just hard to beat,” he said.
The Falcons (3-5) are struggling this season and were shut out 16-0 by Tampa Bay last Sunday, when Robinson was held to 76 yards on 19 carries.
He said everyone on the team knows they are in Madrid on a business trip, with the goal of rebounding from the loss last week.
"I know that there’s a lot of sights and stuff to see, but we’re trying to come here and leave with the win. That’s the most important thing,” Robinson said. “We know what this game means and what it’s going to mean at the end of the season. So this game right here is going to be a playoff type of game for us. This would be for us to come together and even closer as a team and just see who we are.”
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