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You may not have immediately noticed it in the midst of the awful performance by the offense yesterday, but Arian Foster was pulled from the game in the third quarter. Why? Irregular heartbeat. Although Foster was apparently cleared to return to the game, Kubiak decided to hold Foster out as a precautionary measure. Kubes says:
“Arian had an irregular heartbeat,” Kubiak said. “He’s doing fine. That’s why we took him out of the game, but he’s doing fine. That’s something that happened once before in practice. I’m not sure when it happened... I just know it’s happened to him before at practice, he calms down, he’s fine... I don’t see any issues here. I know they’re on top of it. I know he’s feeling fine.”
Arian Foster says:
“I’ll be fine,” Foster said. “I’ll be OK. It’s a very minor situation, so I’ll be OK.”
Dr. Ali Mohamadi, an actual doctor of medicine, says:
An irregular heartbeat, or cardiac arrythmia, can be caused by a number of reasons that run the spectrum from benign to potentially life-threatening. These include dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, issues with the electrical impulse guiding the pacing of heart muscle contraction, structural abnormalities, or damage to the muscle. Symptoms can include nausea, fatigue, dizziness, chest pain, and/or a racing pulse, and can be transient in nature or require medications or surgical intervention to correct the underlying problem. To be clear there is nothing to suggest that Foster's irregular heartbeat was due to a medically concerning issue, and indeed it appears to have been a short-lived concern. Foster undoubtedly will be monitored closely this week in advance of next Sunday's regular-season finale against Indianapolis, but initial indications are that he will be able to play.
What do you say, Texans fans?