Arian Foster Struggles In First Game Back From Injury

Sep 9, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (23) runs for a short gain during the first half against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

There wasn’t much running room to be found for former Tennessee Volunteers running back Arian Foster on Monday night.

Foster, who missed the entire preseason, managed only 57 rushing yards on 18 carries in the Texans’ 31-28 win over the Chargers.

The Pro-Bowl running back also added six catches for 33 yards.

Ben Tate shared the workload with Foster, as expected. Tate received half the amount of carries as Foster, gaining 55 yards on nine attempts.

Tate, a former Auburn Tiger, was more effective when he was in the game. Foster averaged only 3.1 yards a carry, while Tate averaged 6.1 yards a carry.

Some of that can be attributed to Foster knocking off some of the rust from not playing in the preseason.

Moving forward you should see Tate start to eat into Foster’s workload more and more. Foster touched the ball over 400 times last season and the Texans will want to keep him fresh down the stretch this year.

On top of Foster’s workload, the Texans have very little reason not to play Tate more, especially considering how effective he’s been in the rushing game over the past few seasons.

Foster will look to get back on track when the Texans take on the Tennessee Titans next Sunday.

For more on former Vols in the NFL, make sure to follow along on Twitter @AllforTennessee and @ZachAFT