HONOLULU — Houston running back Arian Foster says players are going to step up at the Pro Bowl this year, but don’t expect 100 percent effort.

Foster said Friday after practicing with his AFC teammates that it’s unrealistic to expect full effort from the NFL’s top athletes when they’re limited in the plays they’re able to run.

“This isn’t basketball — you can’t go play a pickup game of football,” Foster said.

Foster said if the NFL expects 100 percent effort from its stars and league officials are willing to cancel the game if they don’t see that, then the game will likely be scrapped.

“I think it’s an honor and a tradition, but for you to expect the best athletes in the NFL to come out and play a game 100 percent when you can’t game plan, you can’t blitz, you can’t do all these things, it’s not going to be competitive like everybody wants it to be,” Foster said.

Effort has emerged as the top theme for this year’s Pro Bowl as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has made clear the all-star game won’t be played if it’s second-rate football.

Denver quarterback Peyton Manning said that would be a shame, meaning players have to play better to keep it around.

Manning said the NFL will lose the value of players interacting if the Pro Bowl goes away.