are you going to draft Arian Foster? (1 Viewer)

[ericttspikes]

The Houston Texans received their best news of the summer Wednesday when Arian Foster was activated from the team's physically unable to perform list.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak said earlier Wednesday that his bell-cow running back doesn't have to play in the preseason to be ready for the Week 1 opener against the San Diego Chargers.

Foster is on the same page as his coach.

"I'm not a huge fan of preseason," he said, according to The Associated Press. "I feel like I'll be ready for Sept. 9 without (it). I've just got to get myself acclimated."

Foster has been slowed this spring and summer by a strained calf that was followed by a back injury. When the team ordered up injections to alleviate the back issue, Foster began to feel pain in his legs.

It's a distressing number of maladies, especially for a player who has carried a serious workload over the last three seasons. Still, Foster said he's never been worried. "I know my body and I knew it wasn't a huge issue," he said. "I had to give it time."
We're probably not going to see Foster until two weeks from Monday. Whether he still has his trademark burst will be one of the biggest subplots to watch in the season's early going.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000232610/article/texans-arian-foster-ill-be-ready-without-preseason

 

[Shutout]

And Aj Green and Peterson has been held out and TRICH missed time. Doug Martin left with a head issue/concussion (nothing to gloss over these days). Didn't Julio and Roddy miss a game too. Tony Gonzalez didn't even show up till the other day.


NFL coaches understand that Pre-Season games are more important to their back end of their roster than their known stars. I'd say they might be apologetic to us in fantasy world that have different priorities but when it comes down to it, coaches aren't going to risk their star players in fake games. They are going to take precautions and use the time to watch the unknown talent try to secure themselves a roster spot. They have nothing in the world to gain by trotting out a Calvin with a strained calf out there and everything to lose. Look at the Steelers the other night. Some might wonder if Bell's injury is tied to his existing one. Would they perhaps have been wiser to just sit Bell a week or so?

Personally, all these things people gripe about endlessly on these boards about ticky tack minor injuries is silly. If your player sat out all year for an ACL and you want to see if he returned ok, then "yeah" it makes sense but if you hear a guy has a strain or a tweak and they don't play him then I say "great, he can't get hurt."

Please don't tell me that you are comparing Martin leaving one pre season game a little early due to getting a knee to the head with everything Foster has going on.

I'm not trying to make a big deal of either, but in a comparison it is relevant. We have seen concussions end careeers and we know the NFL is ALL about siding on the side of caution when it comes to head injuries. So even if its truly not a big deal (not hurt as much as a bad ligament or something), it is certainly something that could keep a player off the field for a while, every bit as much as an ankle, back, or something else flaring up.

But honestly, when I watch how all this info came out and especially after reading Foster's quotes about "not caring for Pre-season" and he knows his body and ,in general, understanding the Texans in a broader scope and not focussing only on FF, I see this as nothing more than "its pre-season, man. I'll be there when the bullets fly for real."

 

[GregR]

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Arian-Foster-did-more-during-Thursdays-practice/de0ac06b-00cd-410c-b84d-6b1c85cb4896

A day after returning to the practice field, Arian Foster looked even better on Thursday.

“He looked good,” head coach Gary Kubiak said. “He did more. He put his pads on with everybody else. I think we went from like 10 reps to 20 today.”

Kubiak said the three-time Pro Bowl running back “felt fine” after yesterday’s work.

“We’ll just keep taking it almost as if he started training camp yesterday,” Kubiak said.

Foster won’t likely play against New Orleans on Sunday either.

“No, I don’t see him playing,” Foster said. “Like I said, I hope he has such a good week that he’s feeling like, ‘Hey, I can go play 10-15 plays,’ and talking to me that way. I think with the time he’s missed, the smartest thing is to get in a couple of good weeks of practice.”

On Tuesday, Foster echoed Kubiak’s thoughts about his suiting up in the preseason, and stressed that he’ll be set for the Week 1 opener at San Diego.

“I feel like I’ll be ready for September 9th without any (reps),” Foster said. “I’ve been playing for a while, so I know game speed. I just have to get myself back acclimated with just football, but I’ll be fine.”

In Foster’s place, backup Ben Tate will continue to get the first-team reps versus the Saints. After that, Kubiak detailed the order of competition between Deji Karim and rookies Cierre Wood and Dennis Johnson.

“Ben’s going to play a lot,” Kubiak said. “We’re going to play Ben as if he’s a starter playing a half of football. He’ll probably get spelled by Deji and then after that, I think we need to take a hard look at Wood and Johnson the most.”