The Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were all without their starting running backs in each of their Week 3 losses. How serious are their injuries? It remains to be seen if they will get the same amount of reps when they return due to the success of others in the backfield.
Arian Foster was a late scratch from the Texans' Sunday matchup against the Giants because of a hamstring injury. The running back was listed as questionable after he aggravated the injury that bothered him throughout the preseason. According to Dale Roberston of the Houston Chronicle, Foster said he would be ready for the team's Week 4 game against the Buffalo Bills as he continues to monitor his hamstring day-by-day. His status as starting running back will be a lock when he returns, but will it be on Sunday?
Based on the history of Foster's ailment, he could be dealing with a chronic injury, which would put a lot of his playing time in jeopardy. If the hamstring strain keeps resurfacing, the Texans will have trouble getting Foster out on the field each week, and we've seen how such an injury affects some players, most notably with New York Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. this season (he has yet to play in a game with the team and has largely been sidelined since June). The Texans can't afford to lose Foster for a majority of time for the second consecutive season.
In Cleveland, Browns running back Ben Tate suffered a knee injury in Week 1 against the Steelers and was expected to miss 2-4 weeks. The Browns are heading into their bye week on Sunday, which gives Tate an extra week of rest, but due to the success of rookies Terrence West and Isaiah Crowell it's unknown how much of the workload Tate will assume upon his return. West has amassed 47 carries for 204 yards (4.3 average) and Crowell has carried the ball 27 times for 141 yards (5.2 average).
Browns running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery told reporters that Tate will be starting when he returns, but that doesn't mean offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will hesitate to divvy up the reps between Tate, West and Crowell. We'll see what the case is if he's is able to return on October 5 when the Browns face the Titans.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are scrambling to find answers after their 56-14 dismantling at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons. Running back Doug Martin was the starter heading into the season, but after nine carries and nine yards in the team's Week 1 matchup against the Carolina Panthers, he left the game with a knee injury and has been out ever since. Bobby Rainey took his spot in the backfield, but has lost three fumbles on only 37 touches despite averaging 5.3 yards per rush. It was reported that Martin practiced fully on Wednesday and is expected to be ready for Week 4.
Martin's rookie season in 2012 revealed his potential when he rushed for 1,454 yards and 11 touchdowns, but his sophomore season was shortened due to a shoulder injury and now his 2014 season has gotten off to a terrible start. Head coach Lovie Smith has said he wanted to establish a running back by committee system coming into the year, but he'll have to see who deserves the starting job moving forward. Martin hasn't yet gotten enough playing time and Rainey has turned the ball over too much. The coaching staff could arrive at a decision after their Week 4 game in Pittsburgh as they try to avoid an 0-4 start.
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