Arian Foster says he needs to be 'as close to 100 percent' before playing

HOUSTON -- Texans running back Arian Foster won't rush himself back from his groin injury, saying he needs to be "as close to 100 percent" as possible before playing in a game.

"When you're dealing with something like muscle injuries they tend to reoccur if you're not careful," Foster said. "It's not something you can push through. I played entire seasons with a torn meniscus; I've played entire seasons with a broken collarbone. There's things that you can push through, but like muscle injuries, there's nothing you can do because it literally hinders your movement. As soon as I can feel like the movement isn't hindered and I'm not going to reinjure it, I'll be out there."

Foster has typically shown patience when returning from soft tissue injuries. He suffered a groin tear during the Texans' first fully padded practice on Aug. 3. He had surgery to repair the injury, which involved a muscle tearing from the bone, on Aug. 7. The surgery was performed by Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia.

Foster said Thursday he had a tube coming out of his stomach for about a week and a half after the surgery, unable to do much.

"It gets frustrating because you see -- I mean, you know, the evil thoughts start to creep in," Foster said. "You start thinking, 'I know guys don't work as hard as me, why do I have to deal with this?' And then you start feeling sorry for yourself. That kind of, for me that kind of goes away after the first couple hours."

During Thursday's practice, Foster worked with trainers on a side field, and moved well.

"I've made a lot of progress in rehab from my injury," Foster said. "We're excited about that. ... We're ahead of schedule and the doctors are pleased with it. So are the trainers. Just keep on working."