While he's happy about Perine's growth, Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Wednesday that he still has full confidence in Rob Kelley and is excited about having the second-year player as his starting running back, Mike Jones of The Washington Post reports.
Gruden seems to be shutting down any notion of a true job battle, after Perine's impressive showing in Saturday 's exhibition against the Packers reinvigorated the hype surrounding the rookie. Perine did well to gain 45 yards on eight carries and 29 yards on one target, but his prior preseason outing was a complete disaster that included a dropped pass, a fumble, issues in pass protection and a 6-15-0 rushing line. He still has time to push for a significant role early in the year, but the Week 1 starting gig may already be out of the question.