NFL Arian Foster Injury: How Is Texans' Star RB's Hamstring?

After calling his hamstring injury "anti-awesome," and then essentially saying it was no big deal, Houston Texans star running back Arian Foster was held out of the team's opening game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

The question now is not if Foster's hamstring is a problem, but how long it will be until he sees game action again.

One thing to consider is the Texans destroyed the Colts on Sunday, 34-7, behind backup Ben Tate's 116 yards rushing and a touchdown. There's a chance the Texans play it safe with Foster until his injury heals fully.

Injury Update

Foster reportedly "worked very hard" on Monday after the Texans' opener and is gunning for a return to practice on Wednesday in hopes of playing in the Texans' Week 2 game against the Miami Dolphins.

Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said, per Nick Scurfield of HoustonTexans.com, "I would like to say he’ll be on the field Wednesday, but we’ll see."

When's He Ready to Play?

Right now, it appears Foster might be able to play in Week 2 if he practices on Wednesday, but the bigger question is if the Texans rush him back to action. The early MRI he tweeted had some experts claiming he would miss at least two weeks, if not more, so it appears likely that he wouldn't be 100 percent by Sunday.

The Texans play a team in the Dolphins that they should be able to defeat even if Foster is held out. There were numerous contributions across the board in their win against the Colts and, given Peyton Manning is still out of action, the Colts aren't the threat that they were in the beginning of the season.

Fantasy Impact

Ben Tate's workload will undoubtedly increase with Foster out. He rushed 24 times on Sunday, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, and had a nice 18-yard run in the game.

Derrick Ward also contributed in the backfield in what should be a timeshare with Foster out. Ward rushed 11 times for 39 yards and scored the Texans' first touchdown in the opening quarter. However, he injured his right ankle in the win and is listed as day-to-day at the moment. If he misses Week 2, which doesn't appear likely, Tate would be an even more legitimate starter on your fantasy squad.

Of course, if Foster plays, both backs shouldn't be started or expected to contribute anything meaningful in Week 2. For now, however, they're good handcuffs until Foster returns.

What They're Saying

Despite both Foster and Kubiak being hopeful that the third-year pro will practice on Wednesday, I still don't see how the Texans start him against the Dolphins. It's simply not worth the risk of him re-aggravating the injury at this point.

It's worth noting that nothing that Foster says should be believed. In addition to his assurance that he would be all right after he displayed the "anti-awesomeness" of his hamstring, he also told Yahoo! Sports Radio before Sunday's game that he would play. Not exactly the most trustworthy source.

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LIFE HURTS. THIS INJURY UPDATE BROUGHT TO YOU BY DICKIES.