Texans head coach Gary Kubiak sounded optimistic on Sunday about running back Arian Foster's availability for the regular-season opener against Indianapolis.
Foster left the Texans' Saturday-night preseason game at San Francisco with a hamstring injury in the first quarter.
"Everything was positive today," Kubiak said. "It looks like we're dealing kind of with the same thing we were dealing with at the start of camp. Hopefully, (we'll) get him back on the rehab train and get him ready for opening day. He'll be day-to-day, but we feel like we're fortunate."
Foster sat out for 12 days with the same hamstring injury at the beginning of training camp from Aug. 5-17. The reigning NFL rushing champ has two full weeks to recover for the Texans' Week 1 game against the Colts on Sept. 11.
"Until he's there, it's a concern," Kubiak said. "All indications that I got from Kap (director of sports medicine/head athletic trainer Geoff Kaplan) today were very positive from a standpoint of what they're dealing with as compared to what they were dealing with the first time, and Arian's very positive about it. So we'll see. Until he hops back out there, there's a concern, but it sounds like we're heading in the right direction, anyway."
The pecking order behind Foster is still unsettled. Veteran Derrick Ward averaged 6.3 yards per carry and scored four touchdowns as Foster's backup last season. Second-year back Ben Tate missed his entire rookie season with an ankle injury but has been impressive in the preseason.
"We're still lining up as Derrick as our two and Tate as our three right now," Kubak said. "But there's going to be a lot of football played this week. I think they both bring something different to our football team, so I could see us playing three guys on gameday. Those things will pan themselves out."
