D.J. Foster: It’s a blessing to be an Arizona Cardinal
One of Arizona's most dominant high school players who played his college ball at ASU, D.J. Foster now looks to make his mark on the Arizona Cardinals.
New England Patriots running back D.J. Foster speaks with members of the media in the team's locker room before an NFL football practice, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
TEMPE, Ariz. – The hometown kid is back.
One of the state’s most dominant high school football players who remained in-state to play his college ball, running back D.J. Foster now looks to make his mark on the team he grew up watching, the Arizona Cardinals.
A day after being signed off of New England’s practice squad, Foster found himself in a Cardinals uniform going through his first practice.
“It means a lot. It was great putting on that jersey,” he said Wednesday. “This is the team that I watched. Being a local guy, this is who I tuned in to watch every week. It’s definitely a blessing to be apart of this organization. I just want to come out here and work hard and help.”
The large smile across his face said it all.
After breaking nearly a half dozen state rushing records at Scottsdale Saguaro High School, including touchdowns in a game (10) and in a single season (60), Foster went on to excel at Arizona State, where he gained at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first three seasons.
Foster, however, went undrafted in 2016. He joined New England as a rookie free agent, picking the Patriots over the Cardinals and Texans.
In his first season, Foster appeared in three games, carrying the ball seven times for 24 yards and catching one pass for two yards.
“I enjoyed my time there,” he said. “I have nothing but respect for that organization. They taught me so much and gave me a foundation.”
Becoming a Cardinal “happened fast,” according to Foster, who said his agent called him and “within an hour I was on my way to the airport. I was excited. I’m definitely happy to be here and go to work.”
The Cardinals added Foster, 23, plus welcomed back veteran running back Chris Johnson this week to help soften the blow of losing David Johnson, who is expected to miss as many as three months after dislocating his left wrist in Week 1.
The Cardinals now have five running backs on the roster.
It may be too much to expect Foster to be active this week against Indianapolis, though head coach Bruce Arians called Foster “a pretty quick learner.”
“We loved him coming out of college,” Arians said, “because he can play the slot receiver and he can play running back. He brings that added addition as a pass receiver. So, just as he learns the offense, he gives us depth at that position.”
Special teams is how Foster will get on the field fastest, Arians added.
However long it takes, Foster is willing to put in the work.
“For me, it’s just come to work everyday, learn as much as I can, be a sponge and just try to get the playbook down as fast as I can so I get on the field and be a part of the team and help those guys,” he said.
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Comments
6 Comments
Really hope for some magic here. Would be great to see DJ come home and become a real weapon. Everyone needs to raise their game.
I don't really follow the Pats. The Pats kind of follow all of us and force themselves on us as America's Team of the 21st Century, love them or hate them.
Basketball? What's he think of the Kyrie trade? What's he think of that Suns squeaker taking 80 shots in the garden and scoring 70 points on the mighty Celtics.
All I saw was a major KC defender, maybe Berry, covering a lumbering Gronk and pulling a hamstring in the process. Gronk did catch a nice TD in the end zone that was later ruled one of those insipid non-catches on replay.
National talk radio sports or local? If local then he gets all Pats all the time this time of year.
You've offered up more substance than my friend did in a 15 minute conversation, but we also talked about ASU.
I didn't remember that you followed the Pats so closely. I tried to press my friend on Brandon Cooks, who I expected to be much more effective, but all the plays I saw he was getting beat up and didn't look like he was trying to fight thru the coverage very hard. I didn't see but small pieces of the first game while I was doing other things. You go into much more detail than my friend did, who is more knowledgeable about basketball and golf.
Has father time and all those injuries caught up with Gronk? I have always thought when he's right, he's simply a beast that is nearly unstoppable. Was KC using LBs or safeties on Gronk, bracketing him, zoning him, or playing man-to-man? If the last one, was it the same defender, or did they rotate them? Last year KC used Berry, but I don't think he was as healthy as he was this year before he got hurt.
Except for the first, those are all the questions I asked of my friend, but he said he didn't watch closely enough to be able to tell me - they had company. He gets his ideas mainly from listening to talk radio sports, more than being a football guru. That's what I tried to say in the post, but obviously wasn't very clear in saying it.