Que Robinson took the field for the first time with the Denver Broncos on Saturday at the NFL team’s rookie minicamp.

“It was a surreal moment,” Robinson said. “It was just like a little kid all over again, except for watching it, you’re in it. It has its complications, but it’s fun. Just like Little League again, for sure.”

Robinson joined the Broncos from Alabama in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on April 26. Robinson’s final season with the Crimson Tide had ended on Nov. 9, when he sustained an elbow injury during a 42-13 victory over LSU.

“A lot of guys in that situation don’t really recupe from it,” Robinson said. “Really a great opportunity just to play football again, for sure.”

The injury ended Robinson’s first season as a regular starter for Alabama, but he had been a special-teams contributor since the 2021 season. That work attracted the attention of Denver, which has its starting outside linebackers returning for 2025 after Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper combined for 24 sacks in 2024.

“We’ve been seeing flashes of him for the last four years at Alabama, really the last two on defense,” Broncos general manager George Paton said after drafting Robinson. “But you look throughout his career, just the special-teams play — I think he had 16 special-teams tackles maybe the last two years.

“You see the athletic traits, the athletic ability, the length, the speed, the way he plays, the motor he plays with, and then he’s played behind some really good outside backers – Will Anderson, Dallas Turner, guys like that – so wasn’t playing a lot. This year, it kind of clicked on defense, then, obviously, had the injury.

“But he has all the traits you look for at that position, and yet in the meantime he can be a hard-core special-teamer, so that’s what attracted us to him.”

Robinson understands special teams could be his path to the field as a rookie.

“I would love if Denver would know I’m a guy that’s willing to do anything and everything to make sure we win a game and ultimately get to where we need to be,” Robinson said. “… I like to win. If that means running down on kickoff 5,000 times and being on punt 4,000 times, I’m willing to do it. I like to win. That’s my huge driving force as far as being a football player. I just like to win, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win a game, for sure.”

Denver’s decision to draft Robinson reunited the outside linebacker with former Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II. Surtain was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, when Robinson started his Crimson Tide career with a redshirt season. Since joining the Broncos as the ninth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Surtain has been a Pro Bowler three times, first-team All-Pro twice and the 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

“Pat’s my favorite defensive football player from Alabama,” Robinson said. “It’s a good feeling to be on a team with someone I look up to, for sure.”

Before Alabama and the NFL, Robinson represented Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham in the All-American Bowl after his final prep season.

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