The 28-year-old cornerback has been the bright spot for a struggling secondary after arriving in the offseason.
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WATFORD, England — Amik Robertson was lined up across from arguably the best wide receiver in football. Jaxon Smith-Njigba ran a slant route and quarterback Sam Darnold immediately looked to throw his way. Before it even left Darnold’s hand, Robertson was breaking on the ball. His anticipation allowed him to arrive just as the pass did and knock it out of Smith-Njigba’s hands.
Robertson was seemingly everywhere in the Washington Commanders’ 33-31 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. He led the team with six tackles, had four pass deflections and assisted linebacker Sonny Styles on a forced fumble. He was playing so well that, at one point, he mimicked LeBron James’s “I’m crazy” celebration by twirling his fingers around his temples.
There aren’t many NFL cornerbacks playing better than Robertson this season. He has allowed just 5.2 yards per target through Week 3 — 13th among cornerbacks who have been targeted at least 10 times, according to Pro Football Reference. He doesn’t have any interceptions, but he has six pass deflections (third in the NFL). He has also been effective in the run game and has 17 tackles (third on the Commanders).
Robertson, 28, has started every game and has been on the field for 99 percent of the defensive snaps. He has been the lone bright spot in a struggling secondary.
This isn’t anything Robertson, his coaches and teammates didn’t expect. But it wasn’t always this way. Earlier in his career, he questioned whether he had what it took to stick in the NFL.
“I nearly lost myself. My confidence was gone,” Robertson told The Washington Post. “I was close to giving up on football.”
Robertson eventually overcame that and found his conviction, but the edge that he developed along the way hasn’t gone anywhere.
“There was a giant chip on his shoulder,” Coach Dan Quinn said, “and it ain’t never left.”
The seventh-year veteran has had no shortage of personal challenges. His father was incarcerated when Robertson was born and wouldn’t become a part of his life until more than a decade later. He and his two siblings were raised by their mother, and they moved frequently around Thibodaux, Louisiana, as she worked to support them.
Then, when he was just 16, Robertson had his first child. He had to balance helping his mother and siblings with raising a child of his own.
Throughout it all, football was his refuge. Immersed in the sport, Robertson was free from his burdens. From youth football to Louisiana Tech, that was where he thrived.
And then came the NFL. The Las Vegas Raiders took Robertson in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. He had expected to go much higher, but questions about his size — he’s only 5-foot-9 — contributed to his fall down draft boards. That knock was something that he had always dealt with and found easy to shake off. He had supreme confidence that his play would silence the critics, and it almost always did.
That’s not how his first few years in the league played out. Robertson was never a Week 1 starter across four seasons with the Raiders. He started nine games from 2021 to 2022, but he was repeatedly benched and couldn’t carve out a consistent role. This time, he couldn’t block out the criticism he faced. It ate away at him.
Following his third season, Robertson isolated himself. He spent that offseason alone in Dallas. More than the physical elements of his game, he pushed himself to be more resilient mentally.
“It just came to a point where I had to go back to my roots,” Robertson said. “All of the negativity that I was seeing, I was like, ‘Just feed off of that. Don’t get offended by it. Use it as fuel.’ And that’s what I did. I built myself back together.”
Robertson started 12 games the following season and showed he had potential. At the time, his experience with the Raiders made him miserable. But he’s now grateful for it.
“It molded me into the man I am today,” Robertson said. “It taught me how to how to handle adversity. I never lose my confidence. … That journey, man, I still carry with me till this day. I’m always out there playing with that fire because I know how I felt. I felt worthless, and I just never want to feel like that again.”
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Robertson’s next step was to show he could become an impact player, not merely a replacement-level starter. Seeking that opportunity, he entered free agency for the first time in 2024 and signed with the Detroit Lions. He won the starting nickelback job following a training camp position battle. When cornerback Carlton Davis was injured late in the season, Robertson moved outside to replace him.
In the final game of the season, Robertson limited superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson to two catches in a win over the Minnesota Vikings. After he earned the game ball, his postgame speech went viral.
“They tried to bury me,” a tearful Robertson said, “but they can’t bury what comes from the dirt.”
That was a turning point for Robertson. He felt like himself again, and the emotion was a culmination of all the obstacles he’d faced.
“If any other player would have got dealt the same card that I had, he probably would’ve broke,” Robertson said. “But I didn’t because I already came from the bottom. I’ve made it through the worst situation already. … If I could make it from Thibodaux, Louisiana, man, I could do anything.”
After starting 10 games in Detroit last season, Robertson hit free agency once again. The Commanders’ pass defense struggled in 2025, and cornerback stood out as a major need entering the offseason. So they signed Robertson to a two-year, $16 million deal — partially because the coaching staff was confident he could help others in the secondary rise up.
“That’s what the coaching staff told me: ‘Look, we want you to come in here and be you,’” Robertson recalled. “‘We need guys like you. That energy and that the passion you play with is contagious, and we want guys to see that.’”
By the end of the offseason, Robertson asserted himself as the leader of the cornerback room.
“I’m a highly competitive guy,” Robertson said. “I’ll tell the guys on the defense, ‘Hey, let’s see who got the most energy out here today. Let me see if y’all going to match mine.’ It’s contagious.”
Robertson is playing the best football of his career. He has put in work to sharpen his technique, discipline and attention to detail. But he also gives credit to defensive coordinator Daronte Jones’s aggressive, zone coverage-heavy scheme.
“Of course, I can play man, but it helps just having that vision on the quarterback,” Robertson said. “It allows you to be able to really go after the ball. You can’t catch what you can’t see.”
The Commanders have leaned on Robertson more than anticipated since cornerback Trey Amos (ankle) has been on injured reserve. But while Robertson has stepped up, his performance hasn’t been enough to stop Washington’s pass defense from remaining among the worst in the NFL.
The Commanders are allowing opponents to complete 70.6 percent of their passes (29th) and giving up 8.6 yards per attempt (28th). They have surrendered 12 passing touchdowns — the most in the league. The secondary’s issues — frequent miscommunication, blown assignments, poor execution — have been multifaceted.
Even though Robertson has been playing well, he still takes ownership of those problems. His individual success isn’t enough. He said they’re “headed in the right direction” and hopes that, over time, the secondary can put it all together.
And when it comes to his own play, Robertson knows there’s still plenty of room for improvement. After all, he wants to be regarded as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL.
“I sit at the table with the 1 percent that made it to the league,” Robertson said. “I want to sit at that other table.”
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