he may suit up for sunday's game just in case Tate goes down but i don't think he's going to see the field
Yes, this. Just like I think the Eagles are going to seriously regret bringing Vick back this week. Football teams need to start paying more respect to their players' injuries.
The team can win with Tate......Foster did not look all that explosive, and at some point they have to get him used to taking hits again. Do you think some of this might be motivational for Foster? Sort of a "Hey, we can win without you, you better get to work"???? DD
It has nothing at all to do with motivation or work - his hamstring has to fully heal. There's extremely little that can be done to speed up the process. Putting him on the field when he wasn't truly 100% backfired and set him back.
What does his work ethic have to do with this? He's hurt, not lazy. He's an RFA after this year, that's motivation enough.
He didn't look explosive?? His first carry went for 14 yards, and he went through the left side gap with a massive burst. He just tightened up because he was brought back too early. This has nothing to do with motivation whatsoever. It has everything to do with the fact that his injury was never allowed to heal properly.
Additionally: Foster had 12 carries of 20+ yards last year (including a 74 yard scamper) and 6 receptions of 20+ yards (including a 50 yarder). Tate has had ZERO of either thus far. It's that game-breaking ability that makes Foster so valuable. We haven't seen it from Tate yet.
It is about motivation, etc...the fear of losing a job etc.....happens all the time in sports. Pushing him a little......just asking.....no need to get your panties in a wad here DM DD
Nice response. So then from an organizational standpoint, they need to be asking themselves, if the guy can stay healthy and be on the field or not. He was injury prone in college, and has been in the pros a bit too.... No doubt he is a great talent when he is healthy, the team needs to figure out if he can stay healthy or not. DD
My panties are just fine, not sure what you're talking about. You can't motivate him to heal faster. I think every player realizes there is constant competition and, when healthy, they need to perform on the field to keep their job. I doubt he needs a reminder of that.
There is a natural tendency of any player that is secure in their job to relax a little bit. It is always better to have someone capable to push the frontline players - fear of losing your job is a powerful healing potion. DD
Well, from that standpoint, I think they are handling it fine. They've allowed 4 roster spots for running backs, and they've given Ben Tate every opportunity to show what he has so far. I think it's pretty evident that when Foster plays, he is the superior back. Now, it's week 2. Let's see what Foster's numbers look like in week 12. If he's still touch and go on the hamstring, and it's one of those issues where he comes back for a game or two, and then re-tweaks it, we can re-visit the idea of Tate becoming our feature back going into next year. But for now, Foster has proven that it's his job to lose, and we need to give him every chance to get back to 100% before we jump ship on him.
That's just it. He never was. He's making peanuts playing the position in the NFL with the shortest lifespan. He hasn't got his guaranteed money yet, and he has no long term deal in place. He has always been anything but secure. Tate performing well can't force him to heal quicker, but it can likely influence him to perform better. Just like any and all competition in sports does. Your suggestion, or implication, that he might be purposefully slacking on his comeback were it not for any able bodied RBs to take his place is kind of silly and unfounded, especially since we know he has all the motivation in the world waiting for him at the end of the year. (i.e. $$$)
Most of the time I agree the added motivation helps. I don't think it helps for a hamstring injury in which a large portion of the remedy is to rest. I am very comfortable that Tate and Slaton can man the RB spot for a couple of more weeks. Foster is a very important player for the team this season and hopefully postseason.
Fair enough, that was a solid answer to my question. I am not in Houston and don't get the local media etc....so I rely a lot on hearing from you guys that are there what is being said etc. DD
The worst possible thing for Arian, from a career standpoint, would be to gimp his way through this year with a touchy hamstring. He really shouldn't have suited up in Miami. 20+ touches would've been waiting for him when he came back, no matter how well Tate did in relief of him the first 2 weeks.
See the problem is that by the time he is fully healed, Tate might be entrenched. This is a touchy situation for sure... DD
If Tate terk his jerb, that means Tate was better than him. Rick Dennison has always been a platoon runningback kind of guy. Whoever was most talented would eventually get the lead gig, injuries or no injuries.
