Brian Robinson Jr. ran through a drill with the Washington Commanders’ running backs on Wednesday, then gratefully pointed to the sky.

“I was forced to do a few movements and cuts in that drill that I wasn’t completely confident in before walking out on the field,” Robinson said. “During the drill, it just helped me gain more confidence in myself, so by the time I finished the drill I knew that I was at least where I needed to be if not further as far as the progress I’ve made.”

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The former Alabama ball-carrier returned to practice as a full participant on Wednesday for the first time since being shot twice on Aug. 29 during an attempted carjacking in Washington.

“It was beautiful,” Robinson told reporters after practice. “Just getting back on the field, being around my coaches and team again. It was just a beautiful day for me. …

“I was just so happy to be back out there. I was excited. I’m a high football energy person. I’m excited when I’m on the football field regardless of if I was coming off an injury or whatnot. I was just excited to be back out there. I just wanted to do a little bit more just to prove to myself that I can do it and just continue to gain the confidence I need to step back out on that field.”

Robinson has recovered from gunshot wounds to his knee and hip.

Washington has had Robinson on reserve/non-football injury. By returning him to practice, the NFL team started a three-week window to restore the rookie to its active roster.

“It was good to have him out there, and he looked solid,” Commanders coach Ron Rivera said. “He’s got a little bit of a ways to go. Conditioning will be a question, that’s for sure. But just watching him, his retention, his recall looked pretty good, and we did some of the things that he does well. He was out there doing them, so it looked good. It was all promising. …

“The biggest thing is we’ll take a look at how he handled today tomorrow morning. Come in, see where he is, see how he feels. That’s always a good indicator when I guy gets his first real workout — how he’s reacting the next day.”

Rivera said Washington limited Robinson to “eight, maybe 10 reps” with the offense during the padded practice.

“He did pop in and take a couple of reps for the show team,” Rivera said, “and we had to tell him, ‘No, no, no.’ You got to keep an eye on him. He was having a lot of fun. …

“I think his mental frame of mind is really good. One of the things we talked about was how fortunate he was. And he understands that, and I think it’s kind of given him a little more insight as to, ‘You know what? Every moment is precious.’ Being back out here on the field today, you could see the joy with which he was running around. He wanted to do more. We had to slow him down a little bit.”

Robinson didn’t want to rehash what happened on the day he was shot.

“I don’t really want to get too much into what’s the past,” Robinson said. “I just plan on moving forward and looking for what’s ahead of us and try to help this team make some progress.”

Robinson did recall one detail of his ordeal specifically, though – when he was in the hospital for surgery immediately after being shot.

“That was probably the lowest point I ever been in my life,” Robinson said. “The only thing I remember from being in the hospital was just receiving all the love. Everybody reaching out to me, speading the love. That was all I needed at the time.”

Robinson doesn’t have a timetable for his NFL debut after missing the first four games of the season. He said he would take his continued recovery “one day at a time.”

Under the NFL’s reserve/NFI rules, Wednesday was the soonest that Robinson could return to practicing with his teammates.

“It’s been a long five weeks,” Robinson said. “It’s a lot of work. We put in a lot of work over that time. I can say I did everything I needed to do over that time period to make sure I was here today.”

A prep star 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.

Robinson referred to himself as “the king of adversity.”

“This is just another situation where I got to be stronger than what I’m up against,” Robinson said. “… When you face new adversity, you already got the mindset to overcome — whatever it takes to overcome whatever you’re up against. This was by far the worst I’ve ever dealt with. But mentally just being strong and just knowing how to battle through adversity and overcome whatever you’re up against, it’s just a similar situation mentally. Just having to be stronger than what I’m up against.”

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