Bijan Robinson reveals headache was reason he barely played in Falcons' win

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the game was not decided in regulation.

Football fans might be scratching their heads as to why Atlanta Falcons rookie running back Bijan Robinson didn't play much in the team's Week 7 matchup on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It turns out Robinson was the one with an actual headache.

The former Texas standout only participated in six plays and had zero carries and zero receptions before the half of the road game at Raymond James Stadium.

In the closing minute of the fourth quarter, however, Robinson received his first and only touch of the day: a 3-yard carry. Atlanta went on to defeat Tampa Bay 16-13 and take first place in the NFC South.

Tyler Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson filled in for the rookie and combined for 115 rushing yards. Allgeier added three receptions for 53 yards.

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Robinson told reporters after the game that his head started hurting Saturday night and when he woke up Sunday, it wasn't better. He said head coach Arthur Smith ultimately made the decision to have him rest.

“It was more last night, it was like feeling weird and then (I) woke up just completely out of it. ... I was just trying to see how I was gonna feel on the field and I was just going down," he said. "So I talked with Coach Smith, and he was like, ‘I don’t wanna risk anything.’ We have Tyler, CP, and they did really well today. Those are my brothers. But yeah, it was really tough this morning."

Robinson said that he did his best to be ready for the game, but couldn't get there.

"I was trying to get like some medicine, take medicine and everything so I can be good for the game," he continued. "But, yeah, my head was hurting bad. I don’t know what was going on, I tried to go pregame, but then Coach Smith was just, ‘We’ll be all right, get you right for next week.’”

When addressing reporters after the game, Smith fielded a question as to why Robinson saw limited playing time.

"Just as we got through warm-ups and early on, just wasn't feeling like himself. So he played, but we weren't going to overdo it," Smith said. "Just being cautious and we're not gonna ever, when you have other guys that can go, we're a team. We'll just have to continue to see, monitor it tonight, tomorrow. I'll have a better answer for you tomorrow."

The Falcons selected Robinson with the No. 8 overall pick in this spring's draft.

The rookie has started the previous six games and had 80 carries for 401 yards and 26 receptions for 189 yards and two touchdowns.