Arian Foster: No Reason for Concern About RB's Health After Week 1 Performance

For all of the talk that Arian Foster's phantom knee injury would limit him or keep him out of Sunday's opener against Miami, he sure did a pretty good job of carrying the football.

It just goes to show that when Foster said he was good to go for Week 1, he meant it.

When Foster missed last Friday's practice due to a knee injury, most of the NFL-loving world assumed the worst, and guessed he would be held out of Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins.

Even if he did have to miss the game, it wouldn't have been a big deal. This was the Dolphins. The Texans wouldn't have exactly needed their A-team in order to dominate.

Nevertheless, Foster was good to go. He was more than good to go, in fact. He led all running backs with 26 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns. A running back with knee problems doesn't get 26 carries in a game.

Fantasy owners, have no fear. Foster is totally fine.

After the game, head coach Gary Kubiak assured the world of it. He told ESPN.com:

"

He was fine. I think he carried it 25 times. Arian was OK. He was fine going into the game. That's part of procedure—if you don't practice on Friday, you become a game-time decision.

"

If Foster wasn't completely fine, Sunday would have been the perfect time to rest him. Even before the regular-season opener, it was more than evident that the Dolphins weren't going to be the most challenging of Week 1 opponents.

They had gone 0-4 in the preseason, during which rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill looked helpless. It was the same story when the games actually started counting.

Tannehill threw for 219 yards, zero touchdowns and three picks for a dismal QB rating of 39.0, and the Dolphins' only touchdown came on a punt return in the third quarter.

Sunday would have been the perfect time to rest an ailing running back, but instead, he got 26 carries.

We should have listened to Foster when he told The Washington Post late last week that he'd be fine to play on Sunday. We should listen to him now that he says he felt like he "played smooth" against Miami (via ESPN.com).

What does this situation teach us? It's not always necessary to assume the worst.

Sometimes, but not always.

Even when the top-rated running back in the league misses Friday's practice, it still could mean he picks up right where he left off in the season opener.