Foster shows staying power vs. Cardinals
SANTA CLARA » Reuben Foster left the field after the 49ers’ 20-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon with at least one symbol of his memorable afternoon: Adrian Peterson’s jersey.
“I was honored to play him,” Foster said of Peterson, now in his 11th NFL season. “Like I can say I got to play Adrian Peterson and I got his jersey.”
The bigger point of pride for Foster was that he was still able to play, period, by the time the game ended.
After he had to leave both of his first two NFL starts early because of injury, Foster was able to stay in until the end and finished with a staggering 14 tackles, including one tackle for loss.
Foster, 23, suffered a high ankle sprain in the 49ers’ season-opener Sept. 10 against the Carolina Panthers after just 11 defensive snaps. He came back last month but suffered a rib injury against the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 22, and was inactive for last week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“It’s very important from a (mental) standpoint,” Foster said of playing all four quarters. “I’ve been hurt for the two games that I started. It is bad luck. You can’t just ask God for no injuries or to not get hurt, but if it happens, it happens.”
Many of Foster’s tackles came against Peterson, 32, who finished with 159 yards rushing on 37 carries. The two swapped jerseys after the game.
“I left some plays out there, believe that,” Foster said. “I left a couple plays and I just have to go back … go to the drawing board, go back out there and just correct it, make sure those mistakes don’t happen again.”
On a third-and-1 play with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter and the ball on the 49ers’ 11, Foster and Earl Mitchell combined to stop Peterson for a 2-yard loss. That forced Arizona to kick a field goal to take a 20-10 lead, temporarily, at least, giving the 49ers some hope that they could mount a comeback.
“Shoot, a future Hall of Famer, I felt good hitting him,” Foster said. “That’s one of the greats. I watched him when I thought about playing football. Just to play against him, you know he’s got some good wisdom under his belt. He’s tricky. He’s got the vet moves and he did a great job today.”
Foster was hurt midway though the third quarter, grabbing his right ankle after Peterson was stopped for 2-yard loss by Dontae Johnson and Adrian Colbert. Foster was a few yards away and stayed on the ground for a few moments before he walked off under his own power.
Before the game, Foster was the last player to be introduced as members of the 49ers defense came on to the field one by one — an honor once reserved for NaVorro Bowman, who was released in October.
It was symbolic, if nothing else, that Foster is the new leader of the 49ers defense — as long as he can stay healthy.
“I’ll be damned, sorry, I’ll be danged, if I let this team go do down, or the coaches of this team go down,” Foster said. “We’ve still got will, we’ve still got fight. Don’t count us out. It’s 0-9, but not for long.”