Arian Foster was already expected to miss the rest of the season due to a back injury, but the Texans made it official on Tuesday by placing the 28-year-old running back on injured reserve.
Arian Foster placed on Texans injured reserve
Foster is officially out for the season after the team placed him on injured reserve.
Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports
More from SB Nation's Texans blog: Battle Red Blog
Foster landed on injured reserve due to a recent back injury, but he’s been plagued by injuries all season. He missed part of training camp because of a similar back injury, but returned in time for the start of the regular season. Foster also played through a hamstring injury. He returned from the hamstring injury in Week 9, only to suffer the most recent back injury on the first play of the game.
He is expected to undergo back surgery to repair the disk issue, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Back injuries can be problematic, but Foster will have more than seven months to recover before training camp begins next summer. There could also be a silver lining in Foster missing the rest of the season, especially with the Texans out of playoff contention. Foster racked up a significant workload during the last three seasons. Some speculated the sheer number of carries would catch up with him, but with Foster now out for the rest of the season, he will avoid another 200 attempts in a lost season.
With Foster out, Ben Tate will slide into the starting role. Tate is battling a rib injury of his own, but has plenty on the line. He will be a free agent after this season and could use the final seven games as an audition for other teams. If he plays well, Tate could be one of the top running backs on the market and land a considerable deal in free agency.
More from SB Nation NFL
See More:
