Arian Foster's frustration was visible after being told to stay off the field during a drive in the fourth quarter Monday, and Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak understands completely why his star running back would feel slighted.
He also believes fewer carries for Foster at this point may be in the team's best interests.
After surviving plenty of drama in its season-opening victory, Houston on Sunday hosts a Tennessee Titans team looking to prove last week's surprisingly solid defensive effort was no fluke.
The Texans fought back from a 21-point second-half deficit to tie San Diego at 28 in the fourth quarter, getting help from both Foster and backup Ben Tate in the running game.
Foster, though, appeared to be waved back off the field at one point by Tate, who elected to stay in. Foster, who ran 18 times for 57 yards compared to 55 on nine rushes for Tate, didn't seem to appreciate the gesture.
"They both want to be on the field. I understand that. I think that's a good thing for the team," Kubiak said.
He plans to have Foster and Tate split carries until he feels Foster, who didn't take a single rep in the preseason, is ready for a larger workload.
"I want to keep it somewhat close right now and watch them working to what's going on," Kubiak said. "I think Arian's been a player who's at his best when he carries the ball 25 times, so we'll head back in that direction (eventually). I think if we're running the football well and we're in the type of football game that we want to be in, I think there's plenty of carries to go around."
The Texans ended up completing their comeback Monday, as Randy Bullock kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired for a 31-28 victory. Matt Schaub finished 34 of 45 for 346 yards and three touchdowns, two to tight end Owen Daniels.
Andre Johnson caught 12 passes for 146 yards.
"There's a lot of times people say, 'We'll get 'em next week.' Well that's not part of this team's make up," Kubiak said. "There's a belief there that regardless of what happens on any given Sunday, we can find a way to win a football game."
The Titans did just that last week despite spotting Pittsburgh a safety on the opening kickoff, winning 16-9 after holding the Steelers' offense to 195 total yards and keeping them scoreless until 1:23 remained.
Jurrell Casey and Zach Brown each had two sacks for Tennessee.
