On Monday night, Texans running back Arian Foster looked a bit peeved on the sideline when Ben Tate remained in the game in the fourth quarter after it looked like Foster would be heading in to replace him.
Foster, who didn’t play at all in the preseason, didn’t talk about anything after the game, but admitted during a Wednesday meeting with reporters that he wanted to be on the field at that point in the game. He also said he understood it, referring to Tate and said that he thought it would be much more problematic if you had a running back who didn’t want to be on the field in the fourth quarter of a close game.
“Obviously, they had a game plan going in of how much they wanted me to play and they’re trying to ease me back into it,” Foster said, via Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle. “But my competitive nature, of course it’s getting [to be] crunch time and the fourth quarter and you want to be out there. It’s just how it played out. In my opinion, you probably [should be] concerned with a player that’s happy he’s not in there.”
It’s hard to disagree with Foster’s take, especially since there continue to be no signs that any frustration from Monday has carried over to Foster’s interactions with teammates and coaches. He wants to play, which is what you want, but he also understands that there’s other factors in play than just his desire.
Coach Gary Kubiak said he plans to keep the carries “pretty close” between Foster and Tate for the time being, something that will ideally help Foster both work his way back into game shape now and lighten his workload enough to lessen the risk of injuries of attrition that come with the outsize workload Foster is used to taking on for the Texans.