# Amik Robertson has never backed down from a challenge and won’t as Lions new No. 1 CB
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“Amik is literally my dog,” Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said. “That is my pit bull.
“I got a lengthy history from afar with this player. I have a really close friend of mine, Jeff Martin, he’s in player personnel at LSU, and he saw Amik coming out (of high school) and the first thing he ever told me when we got Amik, he said, ‘You just got a dog.’ He said, ‘I stood on the table at LSU years ago when they said he was too small. I watched him put on a knee brace and go out at LSU camp and ask for Justin Jefferson in one-on-ones.’ That’s like stuff that people don’t know about this player.”
…“I came up being doubted,” Robertson said. “When I was at the Raiders, a lot of people said like, ‘OK, he’s just not good enough.’ And my first two years, I believed them. My confidence was gone.
“I told myself I would never let it happen again because my confidence is what got me here, my confidence is what got me in the league at 5-9, 5-8 ½, coming from a small school. I did the impossible. I did what people didn’t do. Think about it, Louisiana Tech, 14 picks, stat’s crazy. Nobody did that ever, and I got drafted from there without even going to the combine, so it’s like God was always on my side, I just had to put the work in and turn the doubters into believers.”
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mik Robertson thought he might get cut after his second season in the NFL.
An undersized cornerback who barely played his first two years with the Las Vegas Raiders, Robertson started to doubt his abilities as some in his orbit wondered if he was cut out to play in the league.
The Raiders moved him from outside to slot cornerback as a rookie. Robertson didn’t understand the run fits he was tasked with in his new role. And he struggled in the little chances he got on the field.
Robertson still put on a confident face for teammates, until one day before his third season, when he told his good friend and fellow cornerback Nate Hobbs he was patiently waiting for his turn and reality smacked him in the mouth.
“He was like, ‘Yeah, bro, I hear you, but ain’t you tired of that?’” Robertson recalled. “‘Like sometimes it’s not all about waiting for (an opportunity), it’s about making one.’ And when he said that, it stuck with me and that summer I just, I was like, ‘You know what, I don’t give (an expletive) what they say, I don’t care what they think of me, I’m about to change the narrative.’”
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And last week, with Reed out, the Lions once again gave Robertson the primary task of covering another one of the game’s best receivers in Ja’Marr Chase. Chase beat Robertson for a 64-yard touchdown when Robertson jumped a double move looking for an interception, but Robertson played well otherwise.
“This guy’s gone out and completely strapped up and eliminated two of the best receivers in football,” Sheppard said. “And he doesn’t get the credit, cause Chase left that game with 110 yards, but the real ball guys know and Chase knows. He had I think (46) yards before that 64-yarder.”
Robertson had his first interception as a Lion last week, but walked away disappointed with his performance.
He was mad about Chase’s touchdown and another catch he allowed to Tee Higgins in the second half, and said he needs to be more on point with his details.
