Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak indicated Monday that running back Ben Tate is likely to get more carries on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints than Arian Foster, who is still recovering from a left hamstring injury.
Foster, who rushed for 1,616 yards last season, sat out the second half of Sunday's victory at Miami after re-aggravating the injury in his first action of the regular season. Tate picked up the slack for Houston, carrying 23 times for 103 yards.
"He is a little sore today," Kubiak told reporters on Monday. "We'll see where he's at Wednesday, but we're going to stay positive here. I think we took a step forward. I think it is going to be a process with Arian working himself back to full speed and carrying a full load."
Tate, a 2010 second-round draft pick from Auburn, has had his own injury problems, sitting out his entire rookie season with an ankle injury, but after a strong start to 2011 he is now one of 11 players in NFL history with 100-plus rushing yards in the first two games of his career.
"He's playing really well," Kubiak said. "As we work Arian back into what we're doing and get him back to full speed, Ben's going to probably carry most of the load right now as we work forward with Arian. But he responded very well. He's getting better every time out, and yesterday I tell you what was most encouraging, he played his best football with about 10 minutes left in the game."
