NFL notes: Texans RB Arian Foster denies heart issue

Texans running back Arian Foster said he has not spoken with his doctors about "any surgery," disputing a report that he was likely to undergo a heart procedure in about a month.

"I am feeling well and am as exuberant as ever," he said in a statement Friday.

The NFL Network reported Thursday that Foster was considering an ablation procedure because of a heart condition that forced him from a game late this season. Such a procedure involves use of a catheter to correct structural problems that can lead to an abnormal heartbeat, according to the Mayo Clinic's website.

"As of now, I have no complications with my blood pumper," Foster said. "There was a casual conversation with a reporter about my particular condition that turned public. But I have not, nor do I plan to any time in the near future, have conversations with my doctors about any surgery."

During the third quarter of Houston's 23-6 loss to Minnesota on Dec. 23, Foster left the game because of an irregular heartbeat. Coach Gary Kubiak said Foster also experienced the problem in a practice.

The NFL Network reported that Foster said he's known about his heart issue since he was 12 years old.

Foster rushed for 1,424 yards and 15 TDs in 2012.

NFLPA survey

Almost 80 percent of NFL players don't trust their teams' medical staff, according to a late-season survey by the NFL Players Association, executive director DeMaurice Smith said at a news conference.

About 78 percent of players who responded to the survey said they had no trust in their teams' medical staff, with another 15 percent saying they had very little trust. Only 3 percent indicated some or a lot of trust in team doctors.

Players showed more faith in the trainers that handle the day-to-day wounds of a 16-game NFL season, with 43 percent saying they were satisfied with their training staff and 50 percent saying they had little or no trust in their trainers.

The union hasn't shown the survey to the league and didn't mention it during a Jan. 25 meeting that lasted "several hours," Greg Aiello, a spokesman for the NFL, said in an email.

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