Redskins: Samaje Perine to miss “at least a week” with ankle injury

Samaje Perine had an excellent carry in the Redskins first preseason game. Unfortunately, it only ended up being a single carry, as he suffered an ankle injury on the play.

How unlucky can the Washington Redskins get at running back? After losing Derrius Guice to a torn ACL and finding out that Byron Marshall is set to miss up to a month with an ankle injury, it seems that Samaje Perine will be out some time as well. Perine, who had a 30-yard carry in the team’s preseason win over the Jets, came up lame after the carry and limped to the sidelines. He may have dodged a major injury, but he will still miss time.

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Perine is going to be out “at least a week” with an ankle injury. The injury was initially reported as a sprain, so hopefully it isn’t too severe.

Perine was looking like the favorite to start at the running back position in the wake of Guice’s injury. He has the best combination of size, vision, and deceptive burst that would allow him to succeed as a one-cut runner. However, he is now out for an unknown amount of time, and the murky timeline will hamper his chances to overtake Rob Kelley as the starter, and that could be a negative for the team.

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Kelley has looked decent at best this preseason, and it’s clear that he doesn’t have the vision and burst needed to be a successful lead back at the NFL level. He is a strong runner with some elusive ability, but he’s best served as a goal-line battering ram or a late-game runner who can help wear down defenses. He definitely doesn’t have the same between-the-tackles ability as Perine, so this will definitely hurt the Redskins ground game.

Of course, with three RBs now on the shelf (four including Chris Thompson who is still recovering from last year’s broken leg), it seems probable that the Redskins will have to bring in another player for depth purposes. They have only Kelley, Kapri Bibbs, and Martez Carter as their healthy backs at the moment. They will need to bring in a veteran option just to take some preseason carries until Perine is healthy. Otherwise, they will risk injuries to these other players and ultimately sacrifice depth.

There are some running back options on the market, but don’t expect an inspiring replacement that solves all of the Redskins problems to walk through the door. In all likelihood, they will have to add a washed-up Adrian Peterson, or Orleans Darkwa, who is coming off his best season ever yet remains unsigned. Darkwa could be a fine rotational guy, but he doesn’t provide what Perine can, and he certainly pales in comparison to Guice.

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Hopefully, Perine will be ready to start Week 1. But even if he is healthy, he may be in a timeshare with Kelley. This injury could have a big, negative impact on the Redskins as their RB room gets thinner and thinner.

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