On Monday, coach Jay Gruden said the Redskins’ offense will “go through” Derrius Guice in terms of carries. A day later, Washington listed the second-year running back as its starter ahead of Sunday’s Week 1 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Guice was among the Redskins’ first-team on Washington’s depth chart — over veteran running back Adrian Peterson.
Guice, who is coming off a torn ACL, received 11 carries for 44 yards in the preseason. His lone appearance came in Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons.
“We drafted him for a reason,” Gruden said. “We feel like he can be a first-, second- and even a third-down back, if needed. I think the offense, carries-wise, will probably go through him, pretty much.”
The Redskins plan on still splitting carries between Guice, Peterson and Chris Thompson, but it now sounds like Peterson could have less of a role than initially anticipated.
Peterson, of course, replaced Guice after the LSU product’s injury. The 34-year-old ran for 1,042 yards and seven touchdowns on 251 carries.
Peterson has told reporters throughout the offseason he’ll accept splitting carries with Guice, but he has gotten upset over a diminished role before. Peterson was traded from New Orleans to Arizona in 2017 after he was forced into a lesser role behind Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram.
“We feel good about the guys we kept,” Gruden said. “Obviously, AP is still here that can run the ball as good as anybody. We’re good at running back.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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