HOUSTON -- Houston Texans head coach O'Brien plans to regulate Lamar Miller's playing time next season, but the running back said he is prepared to carry a heavy workload again in 2017.

"Whenever I get my opportunities and the ball in my hand, I just try to make plays," Miller said while volunteering as part of the Texans Care day. "Whether they give me the ball 30 times, 20 times, I'm trying to take full advantage of every opportunity."

The Texans relied heavily on Miller and the running game last season to balance out a poor passing attack. In 14 regular season games and two playoff games, Miller had five contests with 24 or more carries, rushing 31 times in the wild-card victory over the Oakland Raiders.

Earlier in the offseason, O'Brien said while he doesn't think the Texans overused Miller, he "probably carried it a little bit too much early on." Miller ran the ball a career-high 268 times for 1,073 yards and five touchdowns. Miller played through injuries to his ankle, shoulder and ribs all season, but missed the final two games of the regular season.

"We were very, very dependent on him because he's that type of player," O'Brien said. "But I think, you know, 30 carries in a couple games, things like that, that's probably a little bit too much. We feel like we have a pretty diverse group of running backs so I think in order to get him at his best in January, we probably need to cut down on that early in the year."

Now, O'Brien adds third-round draft pick D'Onta Foreman to that running back group. Foreman is a first- and second-down back who will challenge last season's backup running back Alfred Blue for carries in 2017. Miller said he has not seen Foreman play, but that he has heard good things about the 2016 Doak Walker Award winner.

"It's good to have him on the team," Miller said. "I'm looking forward to working with him. I think he'll help this team out a lot, the power that he brings. I think it's a good addition."