Texans vs. Cardinals: Arian Foster ruled out Sunday

Sep 15, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (23) stiff arms Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Zach Brown (55) during overtime at Reliant Stadium. The Texans won 30-24. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports

Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com is reporting that Houston Texans running back Arian Foster missed practice Friday and will be ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Ganguli tweeted:

She also tweeted:

This isn’t good for the Texans this week, or any week, for that matter. Foster is one of the best running backs in the league when healthy, but that hasn’t been the case for Foster this season with his current back injury, while also dealing with a hamstring injury a few weeks ago.

Again, when he’s healthy and getting the right amount of carriers, Foster has been on point this season with two games of over 100 yards rushing, plus one game of 98 yards. His season-high is 141 yards against the St. Louis Rams.

This season, Foster has 121 carries for 542 yards and one touchdown. He has 1,131 carries in his five-year career. This season, he also has 183 yards receiving on 22 receptions with one touchdown.

Ben Tate will start the game for Houston, but he’s playing with four broken ribs, and from a non-medical background, those ribs can’t be healing correctly with the pounding they take on a weekly basis in an NFL game.

Nov 3, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans running back Ben Tate (44) rushes during the second quarter /as Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Ricardo Mathews (91) attempts to make a tackle at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The new backup running back this week is Dennis Johnson, and it looks from various reports that Deji Karim will be the third back on the roster this week, taking the spot left open by Foster’s injury.

If something happens to Tate, the running game is all but gone for the Texans against the Cardinals. It looks as though the bulk of the offense should go through Case Keenum, Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins.

Watch out for tight end Garrett Graham … he could be a sleeper this week if the focus turns toward Johnson and Hopkins.

Who knows if Foster will be healthy enough to even play again this season, and if or when he does return, how long will he hold up before another injury strikes again?