The Houston Texans waived former third-round pick running back D’Onta Foreman on Sunday before departing to Green Bay to practice against the Packers before playing against them in a preseason game on Thursday.

The former Texas Longhorns back was looking forward to having a breakout season after being fully recovered from a torn Achilles he suffered back in Week 11 of the 2017 season. He suited up in Week 16 in 2018 after being on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list for the majority of the season. After sitting out the final game against the Indianapolis Colts, he was made available in the Wild Card playoff game that ended in defeat to those same Colts.

Foreman played in the first 10 games of his rookie season getting some backup carries to starting running back Lamar Miller. It was in a victory against the Arizona Cardinals that the Texans could see the potential Foreman had as he rushed for 65 yards with two touchdowns before going down with the Achilles injury. He finished his career with the Texans with 326 yards and two touchdowns in 11 regular season games.

Texans head coach Bill O’Brien let on to some of the concerns he was having last week after the team had concluded practice. O’Brien was asked about the running back situation by the local media and he wanted to make sure we knew where he stood.

Reporter: What do you think about running back situation behind the first two you currently have?

Coach O’Brien: Who are the first two?

Reporter: Lamar Miller and D’Onta Foreman.

Coach O’Brien: I would say Miller.

Reporter: So, the backup job is wide open?

Coach O’Brien: It's wide open. We have a lot of open spots on the roster. It’s divided into different groups. You have different types of guys. So, you have your first and second guys. You have first- and second-down guys, you have your third-down guys, you have some guys that can do a little bit of everything.

Now that Foreman is no longer with the team, it opens up the backup competition to a number of backs still in camp looking to make a name for themselves. Undrafted rookie Demarea Crockett has looked good in the limited carries he has had in camp, and coach O’Brien likes his hard work and determination. That still may not be enough with a crowded backfield that includes veterans Taiwan Jones, Josh Ferguson, Buddy Howell, and rookie Karan Higdon Jr.

The Texans will wait until other teams begin to make their final cuts after preseason before exploring signing running backs in their backup roles.