ASHBURN, Virginia -- The one yard Samaje Perine didn’t pick up didn’t obscure the 117 he did for the Washington Redskins. Their rookie running back showed a lot of what they needed to see: patience as well as the ability to break tackles and produce.

With every other back he opened training camp with either hurt or on another roster, Perine must continue to do all of the above. The rookie fourth-round pick is now the Redskins’ most experienced back.

Chris Thompson (leg) and Rob Kelley (ankle) were placed on injured reserve during the last week. Mack Brown, who opened on the active roster, had to be cut to make room for an offensive line dealing with injuries to four starters. Matt Jones was released in the final cuts. Keith Marshall tore his ACL early in training camp.

That leaves Perine. The Redskins signed Byron Marshall a week ago off Philadelphia’s practice squad. They do have LeShun Daniels on the practice squad and could promote him.

Marshall will replace Thompson as the third-down back, a difficult task. Marshall played receiver, so he can catch the ball and run routes. But it takes more than that: It’s about knowing how to run routes from multiple spots and how to make decisions on the fly. It’s about being able to protect the passer, a role Thompson performed well.

The description of Marshall’s talent lends itself toward a third-down role: Good speed, quickness, hands. The reality is, he’s a second-year back with 20 career carries and three receptions.

“We shall find out, won’t we?” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said, smiling, when asked whether Marshall was capable of handling this role. “But he’s a bright kid and willing to learn. He’s not going to have much of a choice. He’s going to have to.”

But that’s also why Perine’s game vs. New Orleans was important for Washington, even in a devastating loss.

One game doesn’t prove someone can be a long-term answer. Last season, Kelley rushed for 321 yards in his first three starts combined, averaging 4.79 yards per run. Then, he managed 280 yards in the next six, averaging 3.3 per carry. It takes good blocking, too.

But Perine showed that, if nothing else, he has improved from earlier this season. That was evident in the last couple of games entering Sunday as he showed more patience, especially while running with the quarterback under center, following his pulling blockers better, for example.

With the quarterback under center in his first five games, Perine averaged 2.23 yards per carry, according to ESPN Stats & Information. In the past three games, Perine has averaged 5.18 yards on 28 carries, one of which was a career-best 30 yarder. Without that long run, Perine would be averaging 4.25 yards per run -- still a vast improvement.

Of Perine’s 23 runs, 17 gained at least 3 yards, allowing the Redskins to maintain positive down and distance. He also averaged a season-high 2.26 yards after contact, another area that needed improving. New Orleans was not a good run defense, now ranking 30th in yards per carry.

But of the Redskins' next six games, starting Thursday vs. the New York Giants, four are against teams currently ranked 23rd or lower in yards per carry allowed. Two teams, Denver and Arizona, rank in the top six. Still, it sets up the chance for a good finish for the run game.

Perine couldn’t pick up the third-and-1 carry -- that’s hard to do when two unblocked defenders converge 1 yard deep in the backfield. But the two previous runs also revealed more of Perine. On both runs, he had to avoid defenders in the backfield. The first was easier as Perine started up, then cut to his left and bypassed an arm-tackle attempt. He gained 6 yards. On the next play, he again ran to his left but cut hard inside a linebacker about 2 yards deep en route to 3 more yards.

Before the game, Gruden said that Perine would run better with more carries. Indeed, he averaged 5.71 yards on seven carries in the fourth quarter with 3.0 yards after contact. He needs to work on catching the ball consistently -- he dropped a pass Sunday in overtime. But Perine’s first start showed what he could do for a game. The trick is to keep it going.

“He ran well,” Gruden said. “He had good contact balance. He was patient on some of the runs. He ran through some tackles. It’s really good to see him get more than five or six carries to see how he does in the course of the game. We are going to have to lean on him quite a bit.”