A crushing blow for Texans: Tank Dell suffers ‘significant’ knee injury, a dislocated knee cap, team upset, emotional

HOUSTON – Texans wide receiver Tank Dell suffered a “significant” left knee injury, a dislocated knee cap, per league sources, on a horrific play Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs while catching a touchdown and sustaining a major medical issue that will end his season.

In the aftermath of a fallen Dell writhing in pain in the end zone, the traumatic situation left his teammates emotional and visibly upset on the field and inside the locker room following the game.

Dell was transported via ambulance during the game to University of Kansas Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center, per league sources.

Dell was taken immediately to the hospital for further evaluation and treatment. His leg was immobilized to deal with the swelling. One logical option is surgery, but he has not undergone surgery yet. Dell will face another lengthy rehabilitation in all likelihood.

This marks the latest medical setback for the former University of Houston standout and Texans third-round draft pick whose rookie season was ended prematurely by a broken fibula that required surgery before he became a victim of a mass shooting in Florida and suffering a flesh wound in his leg, recovering from that setback to play again.

Dell immediately grabbed his knee and was in visible pain after catching a touchdown pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud as wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson collided with him accidentally. Stroud broke into tears after the injury sustained by one of his best friends and fellow draft class member.

“It’s not easy seeing your brother go down like that,” Stroud said. “I’m just tore up, but at the same time, I got to be strong for him. For anything whether it goes left or right, up or down, I have to praise my Lord and savior. It’s not easy, but I try to use it as motivation. It’s not easy to just let it go.

“That’s my best friend. It’s not easy to move on and just keep playing. I tried to do the best that I could. My teammates helped me up. I appreciate the guys just talking to me because I was going through it. This will be another road in the bump for Tank. It sucks to say, but, at the end of the day this is not the end for Tank. It’s just the beginning.”

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans indicated that Dell will remain overnight in Kansas City as next steps are being planned medically.

“All our thoughts and prayers are with Tank right now,” Ryans said. “You guys can see what he means to our entire team. It hurts to see him go down like that. He was having a fantastic game.”

The former University of Houston standout was having one of his best performances of the season Saturday against the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs when he got hurt.

It was a jarring moment for the Texans that hit home in ways beyond football. It’s about brotherhood and friendship, and the team is hurting along with Dell.

“Man, obviously, it’s an unfortunate injury,” running back Joe Mixon said. “Tank fought his ass off to get healthy with everything he was going through in the offseason. My man showed up to work each and every day with the best mindset and attitude. It’s an unfortunate situation. That’s the nature of this game. You can never take it for granted. The only thing we can do for Tank is be there for him.

“My dawg hurt on the ground. You never want to see things like that. That’s your brother right there screaming in pain. There’s really nothing you can do. That s--- sucks. I just tried to do everything I can and let him know that we’re there for him, praying over him, holding him and let him know: ‘God got you.’ At the end of the day, you never want to see anybody in our sport get hurt like that. You just got to be there for him. It’s a lot of emotion that goes into it. You know who Tank is for us. That was a big loss for us. It is a big loss.”

Dell was on the ground in agony, surrounded by a large group of highly emotional teammates, including Stroud and running back Joe Mixon, before being carted off the field in an ambulance.

“That s-- hurt, bro, it hurts,” wide receiver Nico Collins said. “We know how much he meant to this team, but losing one of your brothers, man, it hurts. Speedy recovery for my dawg. Mentally, he’s going through it, but we have to keep stepping, keep climbing for him.

“Knowing how much this game means to him, to us, to go down like that, it’s frustrating. It’s hard. He’s a really big part of this offense. Seeing him go down, it hurt. We got to continue to step and ball for him and all of the rest of the brothers. We’re going to miss him, but we know how much it means to him to do what we do.”

Dell had caught six passes for 98 yards and the 30-yard touchdown on seven targets before getting hurt as he scored in the back of the end zone.

The former third-round draft pick had set his ambitions on upgrading his contributions for the stretch run of the season for the AFC South champions. Now, his season is over.

“I’m definitely trying to improve my role and become a big factor on this team,” Dell told KPRC 2 recently. “Me, personally, I feel like my season hasn’t been good. I know what I’m capable of. I feel like I can do way much better. It starts with me. I got to go out there with a clean slate, a clean mind and make the plays I’m capable of making.”

Dell had been healthy this season until now after a rocky end to last season as he broke his fibula after setting a franchise rookie record with seven touchdown catches. After making a full recover from that injury setback, Dell made another speedy recovery from a gunshot wound, a flesh wound through his leg, when he was an innocent bystander as a victim in a mass shooting in Florida at a party.

Fourteen games into the season, Dell’s role hadn’t been as expansive as last season. He caught 45 passes for 569 yards and two touchdowns in the first 14 games and was averaging 12.6 yards per catch. He’s on pace to finish the season with 55 catches for 691 yards. He’s been targeted 74 times.

A year ago, as a rookie, Dell was on pace for 1,205 yards before he broke his leg.

During the offseason, the Texans traded for Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs and invested a three-year, $75 million contract in top wide receiver Nico Collins.

Diggs is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Collins missed five games with a pulled hamstring, but has been dominant since being activated from injured reserve and caught a pair of touchdown passes from Stroud against Miami.

“I feel like we’re always in this position, losing one of our best guys,” Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil said. “I hope we’re not cursed, but that’s what it feels like. You got to keep your head up.”

The Texans’ wide receiver position is now in flux behind Collins and will likely turn to Robert Woods, Xavier Hutchinson and John Metchie III whenever Metchie returns from a shoulder injury.

It’s a lot of calamity for a talented position group that entered the season with sky-high expectations.

“It’s hard, it’s tough,” Hutchinson said. “You never want to see someone like Tank go out, with everything that he’s been through, everything that he’s battled through and having the game he was having, it sucks. He’s a big part of this team. We’re going to miss him. You try to play for him. He would have played with his heart out. He wears his heart on the sleeve.

“You go out and do the same thing for him and play with that intensity and the love of the game he has. You just try to do your best, it’s not easy. That’s my guy. We came in at the same time. Anything he was going through, I feel like I could go to him. He was the light in the receiving room, he was the light, for the entire team. Hopefully, I can see him and talk to him soon. He’s going to fight back. He’s going to come back even stronger like he did this year. It’s only a matter of time.”

Now, the Texans have a football game Wednesday against the Baltimore Ravens, the team that ended their season during the AFC divisional round a year ago.

“We’ll figure that out,” Stroud said. “The easy answer is to tell you something that will make you feel nice. It’s not the truth right now. The truth is it’s not easy seeing your brother go down like that. We’ll have to go in there and get recovery and get ready for Wednesday because it’s another big-time opponent, another great team, another playoff atmosphere on Christmas Day. What more could you ask for? But, right now, our thoughts and our focus is on Tank.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com