There was no time during the celebration of the Giants’ latest surprising win for Daniel Bellinger to tease fellow rookie Wan’Dale Robinson.
Sure, Robinson came back from a four-week injury absence, scored his first career touchdown and made two other catches for first downs, but Bellinger upped his touchdown count to three and led the Giants in catches and receiving yards for the second time in three weeks.
If a competition develops between the second-round pick Robinson and the fourth-rounder Bellinger to see who is making a bigger impact for the offense, general manager Joe Schoen’s first draft class is in great shape.
“They drafted us for a reason,” Robinson said. “To come here and make plays and make an impact on this team. We’re trying our best to do that.”
A passing game that has been dormant for most of the season was energized Sunday by the two rookies who accounted for the two scores thrown by Daniel Jones in the Giants’ 24-20 comeback victory against the Ravens at MetLife Stadium.
Wan’Dale Robinson hauls in his first-career touchdown. Bill Kostroun/New York Post“I think having Wan’Dale back really helped,” center Jon Feliciano said. “Bellinger is coming into his own and becoming the guy they thought he was going to be when they drafted him.”
Returning from a knee injury, Robinson quickly made his presence known in a receiving corps missing Sterling Shepard, Kadarius Toney and Kenny Golladay with a 15-yard catch to convert a third-and-12 and a 3-yard touchdown catch on the second-quarter drive to tie the score at 7-7. There wasn’t a defender within 5 yards on any side of the shifty Robinson as he walked into the end zone. David Sills ran interference over the middle — almost an illegal pick — to free Robinson in the flat.
“It was really hard,” Robinson said of missing time. “I had never missed more than like two weeks of football in a row, but I was glad to help us win.”
Robinson saved the football from his touchdown to give to his mother, who raised him when his father was imprisoned and made her first trip to New Jersey for the game.
“That’s a moment I’ve been dreaming about since I was 5 years old,” Robinson said. “To see it all come to life is pretty special. She’s really the one that raised me since I was 5 years old, with my dad not being there. It was just me and her.”
Daniel Bellinger scores during the Giants’ win over the Ravens. APBellinger’s three catches for 38 yards included the 8-yard touchdown that cut the Giants’ deficit to 20-17 with 6:01 remaining — and his blocking at tight end is one of the offense’s biggest upgrades from years past. Head coach Brian Daboll — a former tight ends coach — admits he has been especially hard on Bellinger.
“Coach Dabes puts it perfectly [for] guys stepping up, knowing what to do and how to do it,” Bellinger said. “Whether we are rookies or two- or three-year vets, we did a good job of building that trust.”
The trust between Robinson and Bellinger should allow for a little friendly competitive bragging. It hasn’t happened yet?
“No way,” Bellinger said. “I’m just supporting him.”







