The clock symbolically tattooed on Wan’Dale Robinson’s right knee is set to 12:13, and it’s about to strike.
The time is a metaphor for Dec. 13, 2022 — the date the rookie underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL that cut short the first 100-yard receiving game of his Giants’ career.
The one-year anniversary will arrive two days after the Giants face the Packers on “Monday Night Football.”
“My tattoo gives me a reminder of everything that happened, everything I’ve been through,” Robinson told The Post. “Hopefully, that’s a couple days after scoring a touchdown, and that’s the celebration. I haven’t been able to play football like this in December before, so it will just be nice just to be able to do that.”
Robinson and his father, who served two drugs-related prison sentences, live by a rule of always looking toward the future.
“We don’t like to talk about the past,” Robinson said. “We are recovering and speaking positive affirmations into existence.”
So, what does Robinson’s future with the Giants look like?
The final five games could go a long way toward determining how general manager Joe Schoen’s first-ever second-round draft pick is viewed entering an offseason, when the receiver corps will need another significant overhaul.
Robinson has played 50 percent of the offensive snaps — the second-largest share of any receiver — and notched 36 catches for 265 yards and one touchdown.
Nobody has produced in the NFL’s worst passing attack (151.6 yards per game) with three different quarterbacks behind a collapsible offensive line forcing hurried throws, but Robinson’s 7.4 yards per catch rank No. 117 among qualifying NFL receivers and suggest that his catch-and-run explosion has not yet fully returned.
Just two of his 46 targets are deeper than 9 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus.
“He still has his quickness,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “He still is improving from that [ACL] — a tough injury as you come back as a skill player — but he’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do. I think that the last couple weeks, it’s healing up even a little bit better. You’ve got to go through [it] mentally and physically, so I’m very encouraged by Wan’Dale.”
The Giants have soon-to-be four-time leading receiver Darius Slayton, rookie deep-threat Jalin Hyatt and Robinson under contract in 2024.
Sterling Shepard, Parris Campbell and Isaiah Hodgins will be free agents, though Hodgins’ exclusive rights can be retained for cheap if the Giants are not worried that he and Hyatt mostly fill the same position.
Robinson is the wild card in that picture.
Is the 5-foot-8, 185-pound slot receiver a bit piece or the big part of the future that his draft position suggests?
“Talking with Dabes and our offensive staff, I feel like a part of it,” Robinson said. “They are letting me get back to myself, and I’m extremely grateful for that.
“I’m getting close to that one-year-mark, and [doctors] told me I would start feeling back to myself around that time. My overall strength, the explosion, being able to put my foot in the ground, my speed, a lot of things I didn’t have all the way back but definitely are getting there.”
To make sure it’s not a lost season, Robinson committed to finding ways to improve that don’t show up in the statistics.
“I feel like I’ve gotten better in the overall mental aspect of the game and everything I’ve been able to learn,” Robinson said. “Seeing defenses, understanding how to set up routes, continuing to learn how to get open in different ways, that’s from film study and talking with the quarterbacks and coaches to make sure we are all on the same page. As long as I’m getting better physically and mentally each week, everything will be just fine.”
Robinson broke out with nine catches for 100 yards on Nov. 20, 2022 — his last game pre-surgery.
He becomes more confident that production is coming again every time he gets up from a big hit.
“I think I’ve limited a little bit of the amount that I’ve taken this year — just trying to be smarter,” Robinson said. “When I was younger I played with older kids, so my dad would always ask me, ‘Are you ready to quit or do you want to get back up?’ I always get back up no matter what — unless I really can’t walk.”
When that happened, Robinson got the date his comeback began tattooed on his knee.
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