Arian Foster to Undergo Groin Surgery
Sources have confirmed that Houston Texans RB Arian Foster will be undergoing surgery for a groin injury in Philadelphia. Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, asked for a reaction to the news today, had this to say:
“He’s going to miss some time, there’s no doubt about that. We have no idea how much time he’s going to miss. There’s medical opinions that still need to take place. One thing I want to say about Arian is, you know, I feel bad for him personally. I think he came into this offseason and he really worked extremely hard, came back here and ran the conditioning test really, really well, came back in great shape, and he was practicing well. But, as a football team, it’s next man up, next man up.”
Going undrafted in 2010, Foster burst onto the scene in 2011 after racking up 2,220 all-purpose yards as a dual-threat back out of the backfield. Since that All-Pro season, however, he has had just one 16-game season as he has battled a myriad of injuries.
The surgery will sideline Foster for at least 6 weeks, giving the Texans the option of placing him on the Injured Reserve (Designated for Return) list, which would allow him to return to practice in week 6 and be activated in week 8. With a bye in week 9, O’Brien and his coaching staff could even have the luxury of easing Foster back into the routine before fielding him in week 10 at Cincinnati.
2nd-year pro Alfred Blue, who started 3 games in 2014 in place of Foster and gained 528 yards for the season, will assume RB duties for the Texans. The team attempted to sign free-agent Pierre Thomas, most recently of the New Orleans Saints, on Wednesday, but according to Thomas’ agents, they were unable to agree on terms.
This leaves the Texans with Blue, Chris Polk, Jonathan Grimes, and rookie Kenny Hilliard as the RBs currently on their roster.