Two weeks before the start of the 2022 NFL season, Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. suffered gunshot wounds to his hip and knee. The former Alabama standout still ran for 797 yards and two touchdowns on 205 carries and caught nine passes for 60 yards and one touchdown in 12 games.

But Robinson didn’t get any first-, second- or third-place votes for The Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.

MORE NFL:

· ALABAMA ROOTS: LEAGUE LEADERS DON’T TOUCH SINGLE-SEASON RECORD IN 2022

· JALEN HURTS ISN’T CARSON WENTZ II TO EAGLES GENERAL MANAGER

· ALABAMA ROOTS: ROOKIE RANKS AMONG THE IRONMEN FOR 2022

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith won the award, leading the 16 players who received votes, including former Alabama All-American Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans and Greenville High School alumnus Za’Darius Smith of the Minnesota Vikings.

Geno Smith didn’t overcome an injury to win the award. He received the honor after getting Pro Bowl recognition in his first season as an NFL starter since 2014.

It wasn’t that the voters forgot about Robinson, though. As a rookie, he wasn’t eligible for the award.

While making the media rounds during Super Bowl week, Robinson said he has not completely recovered from what happened to him in August, when two teens approached him on a Washington street and sought to rob him in an attempt to get the keys to his Dodge Challenger Hellcat.

“I still have some after-effects that I’m battling with that are personal with me,” Robinson said, “but, hey, that’s my battle. I went through it, and I’m still going through it.”

Robinson’s goal for the offseason is to be fully ready to play when the 2023 campaign kicks off. In 2022, Robinson spent the first four weeks of the season on injured reserve, and he missed the final game because of a knee injury.

“I just want to go out there and be healthy, play healthy, come into the season healthy and just have a fair chance at everything,” Robinson said. “Want to rush for 1,000. I want to do all those things. I feel like I didn’t have a fair chance, even though I was pushing that mark. I had like 800. But full season, healthy season, I feel like I can display a lot things people really didn’t get to see from me this year.”

A prep standout at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Robinson joined the Commanders in the third round of the NFL Draft on April 29 after running for 1,343 yards and 14 touchdowns and catching 35 passes for 296 yards for Alabama during the 2021 season.

“I’m blessed to have come from the program that I came from,” Robinson said. “It prepared me very well as far as just developing all the tools needed to play the game at this level, having the physicality and just the IQ, the mental, the brains for it. Just got to have an eye for the game, and I felt like I did a great job at Alabama with preparing over that time because it didn’t feel like I had to adjust much when I got in.

“I just kind of had to keep doing what I was doing. All I needed to do was learn the playbook, and the physical part of it just come along with how hard I work over that time period, so I feel like I made a great adjustment coming off of what I came off of. Now when I have a chance to come in fully healthy and mentally at peace with everything that’s behind me, I feel like that will also help take my game to another level.”

Robinson’s second season with come with some changes for the Commanders’ offense. Washington will have a new offensive coordinator in 2023, and after the Commanders used Taylor Heinicke and Carson Wentz as their quarterbacks this season, the team plans to give Sam Howell the opportunity to earn the starting job after the fifth-rounder from North Carolina started one game as a rookie.

“I got a lot of faith in Sam,” Robinson said. “I like him. We came in together, even kind of developed a little relationship with each other before we got drafted together. I told Sam all year, I said, ‘Hey, man, stay ready, man. I believe in you. I feel like if you get an opportunity to come out, you’re going to do it.’ I’m glad he got a chance to just give everybody a little sneak peek of his potential versus the Cowboys, and I feel like it’s a lot more to what he can bring to the table. It just comes with the more opportunities he gets, and with experience, I feel like Sam gives us a good chance.”

In January, two teenagers pleaded guilty to charges for their involvement in Robinson’s shooting. A 15-year-old pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and a 17-year-old pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a pistol without a license. The 17-year-old is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 24, and the 15-year-old is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.