After suffering two devastating injuries over the past 12 months, newly signed Dolphins running back Arian Foster says that he's finally healthy.
After signing with Miami on Monday, Foster said that he's no longer being hampered by the torn groin and torn Achilles the caused him to miss a total of 12 games in 2015. As a matter of fact, Foster feels so good that he thinks he has the ability to be one of the best running backs in the NFL in 2016.
"I still feel like I'm a Pro Bowl-caliber player, and I intend to show it," Foster said during a conference call on Monday.
Of course, Foster will only be able to "show it" if he can manage to stay healthy, which hasn't been an easy thing to do for him over the past few years. Over the past three seasons, the running back missed a total of 23 regular season games while battling injuries that ranged from a torn meniscus to that torn Achilles.
Foster may be end up being a good fit in Miami. He won't have to carry the load, thanks to a young Dolphins backfield that includes Jay Ajayi and Kenyan Drake. If Foster earns the starting spot over those two guys, he's fine with that, but he's also OK with just coming off the bench.
"I don't have any expectations [on how much I'll play]," Foster said. "I'm just coming here to compete and help the squad out however I can."
After the Texans released Foster in March, the running back took all the time he needed to figure out his next move. In the end, Foster said it was an easy decision to sign with the Dolphins.
"After my visit with Miami, I kind of already made my mind up that that's where I wanted to be, so I was stressing to my agent that I wanted to get the deal done, because I see a lot of promise in this team, and I feel like I can add value and help the team get to where they want to be," Foster said. "I think they have the right head coach and the right people in the front office and they are all committed to winning."
Foster signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal that could hit $3.5 million if he reaches certain incentives.
If the four-time Pro Bowler's going to contribute in Miami, he's going to stay healthy and put up better numbers than he did during his final season in Houston. In four games with the Texans where he was healthy last year, Foster only scored one touchdown while only averaging 2.6 yards per carry.
Overall, Foster rushed for 6,472 yards, averaged 4.5 yards per carry and scored 68 touchdowns during his seven seasons with the Texans.
