Jonathan Grimes

When the Texans signed running back Andre Brown as a free agent, it seemed they were going to have him take over for Ben Tate as the primary backup to Arian Foster during the 2014 season.

Things haven’t played out that way, though. Brown dressed for Saturday night’s game against the Cardinals, but didn’t see a snap even though Arian Foster was held out of the game. Coach Bill O’Brien said the team planned to play Brown after Jonathan Grimes, Alfred Blue and Dennis Johnson, but never got the chance because they only managed to run 48 offensive plays.

On Monday, O’Brien went a little further. He said, via Brian Smith of the Houston Chronicle, that Brown is battling but in a “tough spot” on the Texans’ roster. Smith’s colleague John McClain reports Brown said “all the right things” in response to questions about his status.

Grimes started ahead of Blue on Saturday and O’Brien indicated that the depth chart is shaping up that way for now. There’s hope that Foster will be back at practice this week and getting him up to speed may not leave Brown with many chances to climb his way back up the pecking order, the story said. With Foster already banged up and missing much of camp, his fantasy handcuff will be a popular pickup, but so far it appears that's not going to be Brown.