ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden threatened to do something that hasn't been done in five years: play some of his starters in the final preseason game. But he said they finished the week with a good practice, eliminating the need for them to play Thursday.

Gruden had debated playing some of his offensive starters in the finale, wanting to finish on a stronger note than what they showed against Baltimore on Saturday. Gruden seemed agitated in the portion of practice open to the media, chastising quarterbacks for their throws, including Robert Griffin III.

Afterward, Gruden said there was a "10 percent chance" some of the offensive starters would play. He dropped it to zero percent Tuesday.

"It's my intent now, after a couple good days of practice, to let the other guys play," Gruden said, "let the backups play. So we can solidify those roles. We have our starters. In general, we feel pretty good about who they are and now we need to find the key backups and who they are and make sure they get ample reps to show what they can do."