Washington Redskins running back Chris Thompson will not play Thursday in the team’s first preseason game against the New England Patriots, coach Jay Gruden announced Sunday.
Thompson broke his leg in November and was placed on injured reserve for the final six weeks of the 2017 season.
“Chris will not play on Thursday. We know that,” Gruden said.
Thompson’s rehab has been coming along well, though he said last week that he was still nervous about aspects of the full-speed game like making cuts. Gruden said Thompson will play Week 1 of the regular season against the Arizona Cardinals, so holding Thompson out of an exhibition game if he isn’t ready for it yet might be part of the long-term plan.
“I think when you see him running around, you can see that he’s got his full strength and mobility back,” Gruden said Sunday. “It’s now a matter of just slowly getting him a few carries like we did yesterday and we’ll continue to build off of that on a daily basis.”
The Redskins play at New England Thursday at 7:30 p.m. With Thompson out, rookie Derrius Guice likely will get the majority of carries early, and the team will get a look at back-ups fighting to secure roster spots, including Samaje Perine, Byron Marshall and Kapri Bibbs.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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