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          NFL Nation

          Greg Robinson working with LeCharles Bentley in Arizona

          • Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterApr 7, 2016, 11:00 AM ET
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              Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN's coverage of the Niners' 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick's protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam's subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team's relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagoner
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          Los Angeles Rams left tackle Greg Robinson had a difficult sophomore season as he continued his adjustment to protecting the edge at the NFL level. Robinson struggled with holding penalties and surrendering his share of sacks, especially in the first part of the season.

          But the Rams believed that Robinson took some positive steps forward over the season's second half, enough to continue holding down the left tackle spot rather than kicking inside to guard.

          "He’s learned a lot," general manager Les Snead said. "He got more consistent down the stretch this year than let’s call it the first eight games and like we were talking about, long story short he was a redshirt sophomore from a spread offense when he got there. Hey, playing at Auburn his junior year probably would have been good for him, maybe even his senior year. He had to learn the hard way in our league. Because he played out there on an island and he’s a left tackle we all see the moments where he’s not where you want him to be. But in that, there’s some moments where like ‘Holy cow, he just did that to Calais Campbell.’ When you see that you want to continue developing him and getting him to be a more consistent player."

          To that end, the onus falls on Robinson himself even more than it does the Rams coaching staff. Which is why Robinson has been spending most of his offseason working to make himself better. Last year at this time, Robinson was recovering from a toe surgery that prevented him from having a full offseason to prepare. With no such limitations this year, he's spending his offseason at "O-Line Performance," a training center in Scottsdale, Arizona, run by former NFL offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley.

          The training center's website claims it is "the country's first training center designed solely around the needs of offensive linemen." That includes on-field and footwork drills as well as plenty of weight room work geared toward improving the skills needed to be a successful offensive lineman.

          Bentley recently posted a video of Robinson going through a wide variety of activities, up to and including pushing a sports utility vehicle.

          Clearly, Robinson an the Rams are hoping that the hard work will pay off and he'll be able to meet the expectations that accompanied him as the second overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft in his third NFL season.