Andre Johnson Injury: Arian Foster Key to Texans Surviving Loss of Star WR

Now that the original shock of watching Houston Texans' star receiver Andre Johnson go down has worn off, it's time to start taking a long-hard look at how the Texans can survive this stretch of games without him.

It's going to be hard and it will undoubtedly be the biggest test this young team will face all season, but if they can come out on top at the end, it may end up being the maturing factor that puts them over the top and into the playoffs.

They always say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Well, it's time for the Texans to get going.

If you haven't heard by now, Johnson is expected to miss about three weeks after having a medical procedure on his injured hamstring, according to Mark Berman of FoxSportsHouston.com: 

"

FOX 26 Sports has learned Houston Texans All-Pro receiver Andre Johnson is having a minor medical procedure Tuesday and is expected to miss three weeks. League sources told FOX 26 the minor procedure is to eliminate scar tissue to speed up the healing process related to his right hamstring.Johnson strained the hamstring in the second quarter of the Texans' 17-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Reliant Stadium. Johnson's agent, Kennard McGuire, declined comment on the procedure when reached by FOX 26 Sports."Andre is doing fine and he looks forward to being with his teammates soon," said McGuire. Texans officials have not been available for comment.

"

That's the bad news Texans fans. Take a deep breath, collect yourself, and now let's tackle this problem.

While the sky is not falling, this is a huge blow for the Texans.

The Texans do have a ton of talent offensively, but there is no doubt that Johnson makes everything and everybody else on the offense much better.

With his ability to stretch the field it gives quarterback Matt Schaub more time and space to work with in the passing game, and running back Arian Foster more room at the line of scrimmage.

Defenses are forced to respect Johnson's ability to burn them on any given play, so they have to essentially think pass first and back off the line.

Without Johnson, defenses are going to be able to focus more on the running game and stopping Foster though, so if there is a key to surviving this time period it's going to be firmly on his shoulders.

Foster is going to be feeling the heat at the line of scrimmage, but if he can break off a few big runs, he will essentially have the same impact Johnson has on a defense, except from the backfield.

Not only that, but the Texans need to find more ways to utilize him out of the backfield in the passing and screen game as well.

They aren't going to have the same explosive vertical game that teams are used to, but if game planned right, Arian Foster can actually make up for the loss of Johnson.

Obviously all of the pressure can't be put on Foster, but now he's the undisputed big-gun for the Texans.

He needs to step up even more if they have a shot without their star receiver.