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Looking to add healthy depth at the running back position, the Washington Redskins are set to activate Byron Marshall off injured reserve. Head coach Jay Gruden told reporters after Wednesday’s practice of the news on Marshall, per John Keim of ESPN.
Marshall suffered a knee injury in a preseason game against the New York Jets. He was placed on injured reserve with a destination to return just before Week 1 of the regular season.
The Redskins have been banged up at running back all season. They lost second-round pick Derrius Guice to a torn ACL that sparked a string of injuries at the position, including Marshall, that led to the team signing 33-year old Adrian Peterson.
The dire circumstances may have been a blessing in disguise as Peterson has been the team’s best offensive weapon through their first seven games. However, the 16-game regular season is a grind, and Peterson himself has been battling both a shoulder and ankle injury. In Sunday’s 20-13 win over the New York Giants, Peterson participated in a season-high 60.3 percent of the Redskins’ 68 offensive snaps in large due to both Chris Thompson and Kapri Bibbs suffering injuries in the game.
Thompson, the Redskins’ primary third-down back, had battled back with rib and knee injuries that forced him to miss the previous two games. However, he suffered an additional injury to his opposite rib against the Giants while Bibbs suffered shoulder injury.
Adding Marshall will be a huge lift. He is eligible to be activated on Nov. 5.
The Redskins are allowed one additional player to return from injured reserve. Gruden was mum on which player that will be. Rookie wide receivers Trey Quinn (ankle) and Cam Sims (ankle) are eligible to be activated on Nov. 12 while running back Robert Kelley (toe) would be eligible on Nov. 19.
