Zenner had four carries for four yards in Thursday's preseason loss to the Bengals, but he again played ahead of Steven Ridley, who didn't enter the game until the second half for a second straight week, MLive's Kyle Meinke reports.
With Ameer Abdullah (shoulder) still unavailable, Theo Riddick got the start and Zenner was second to enter the game. Seventh-round rookie Dwayne Washington actually entered before Steven Ridley, though Washington also stayed in until the very end of the game, suggesting he's still a long shot to make the team. Ridley did end up with a better stat line (4-13-0) than Zenner, but it's clear the veteran has fallen behind his young teammate in the battle for Detroit's power-back job. The winner of the battle would likely become the team's primary ball-carrier if Abdullah were to miss time during the regular season, but with Riddick entrenched as the top pass-catching back, this isn't a high-upside handcuff situation.