Former Alabama wide receiver Robert Foster has been placed on injured reserve, the New York Giants announced Friday.
Earlier on Friday, the Giants announced that wide receiver Keyland Doss would be placed on waivers. But New York withdrew the dose after Foster suffered a hamstring injury during practice on Friday.
Foster played 29 offensive snaps in the Giants’ preseason opener on August 11 and had a 9-yard run in a 23–21 win over the New England Patriots.
The designation means the end of Foster’s NFL season but doesn’t close the door entirely. Last year, Foster landed on injured reserve during the Miami Dolphins’ training camp. On August 30, the Dolphins waived Foster on IR with an injury settlement. He signed with the Dallas Cowboys two weeks later and spent the remainder of the 2021 season on their practice squad.
The Cowboys waived Foster on March 11 and he signed with the Giants three days later, reuniting with Brian Daboll, who became New York’s head coach in January.
Daboll served as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2017, when Foster caught 14 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown for the Crimson Tide’s CFP national championship team in his senior season. Daboll spent the intervening four seasons as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator, with Foster on the team for the first two seasons.
Foster entered the NFL without the benefit of being drafted, but still made the Bills’ regular-season roster to open the 2018 campaign.
Six games into his rookie season, Foster had two catches for 30 yards and was on the practice squad. Buffalo returned Foster to the active roster for the 10th game, and he broke the Bills’ 19-game drought without a 100-yard receiver with 105 yards on three receptions in a 41-10 win over the New York Jets. Foster had two more 100-yard games in 2018. He averaged 20.04 yards on 27 receptions, good for 541 yards and three touchdowns.
But in a revamped receiving corps, Foster played less than half the offensive snaps in 2019 that he did for Buffalo in 2018, even as he became a big factor on special teams. Foster had three receptions for 64 yards on 18 targets in 2019, after gaining 29 yards on his first two NFL rushing attempts.
Foster was waived by the Bills at the end of training camp in 2020, and he contacted the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad.
Washington football team on 22 Oct. Foster was signed in 2020 and caught two passes for 37 yards while playing 27 offensive snaps and 49 special-teams plays in four games.
Foster did not play in a regular-season game in 2021.
Foster has 32 receptions for 642 yards and three touchdowns in his NFL career.
