‘Tough news’ for Texans: Tank Dell out for year with dislocated knee, torn ACL, Jimmie Ward out for year, foot surgery

HOUSTON – Texans wide receiver Tank Dell tore his anterior cruciate ligament in addition to dislocating his entire knee in a season-ending injury suffered Sunday that will be surgically repaired and he was placed on injured reserve, officially ending his season.

Dell suffered additional damage to his knee, including a torn medial collateral ligament, per league sources. His outlook to play next season, due to the timing of the injury and the severity and multitude of the injuries that will require more than one surgical procedure to repair all of the damage, is regarded as an extremely unlikely, if not impossible scenario. Dell has a long, grueling road of recovery ahead of him.

“It’s unfortunately a significant knee injury,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans updated Dell’s status Monday during a news conference at NRG Stadium. “He dislocated his knee, he tore his ACL, and some other things there he will have to get repaired. So, he’ll be out for the year. Tough news.”

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

It’s a devastating medical setback for Dell, who traveled back to Houston on Sunday after being treated and released from the University of Kansas Medical Center trauma unit as Ryans reiterated that it was a severe injury sustained by the former University of Houston standout while catching a touchdown Saturday against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Ryans declined to elaborate on whether Dell will be able to play football next season.

‘Right now, the focus is just on Tank, just going through this process, getting the surgery, getting recovered, we’ll deal with that when it comes,” Ryans said. “I don’t think it’s the time right now to discuss what’s going to happen next season with Tank, just allow him to get this time to heal up and recover.”

In other injury updates, Texans nickel Jimmie Ward is out for the season and will undergo season-ending foot surgery. Offensive guard Shaq Mason is week to week with a knee injury.

“Two great guys, great players,” Ryans said of Dell of Ward. “We’ll miss them dearly. They meant a lot to our team and we know we have a lot to pick up losing those two guys, but those guys will attack the rehab the right away and they’ll be back in due time. Our thoughts and prayers are still with them as they attack the rehab and knowing everything that’s to come. They’ll make a recovery.”

This marks the latest adversity for Dell, 25, whose dynamic rookie season last year was ended prematurely by a broken fibula that required surgery to repair the damage. Months later, Dell was the victim of a gunshot wound in his leg during a mass shooting in Florida while attending a party as an innocent bystander.

Dell posted a broken heart on social media as well as an inspirational video on TikTok with the caption: “When you want something so bad, you got a different attachment to it.” with the hashtag #noretreatnosurrender.

“It’s not easy to see your brother go down like that,” said Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, who considers Dell his best friend. “It’s not easy. I think everybody saw how hard I took it. There’s not a lot to say, but this isn’t the end for him. This is just another bump in the road. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel.

“I think just for people to give Tank a little space right now and just pray for him from afar. Let him go through this because the worst thing that you want to hear is everything’s going to be okay and all those types of things. Clearly, he doesn’t want to hear that. He needs to hear the truth. It’s not easy, but I’m going to be here for him and that’s my brother through thick and thin, through life. I’m going to be here for him.”

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. Especially wide receiver Jared Wayne, who accidentally fell into Dell in the back of the end zone in a collision that left his teammate injured badly.

“With that, Jared was in a difficult spot emotionally, as anyone would be,” Ryans said. “Its a tough spot to be in. Football, it’s a lot of unpredictable movements, a lot of things happen and a lot of things happen fast. None of us can predict injuries. Guys play fast, things happen all the time. You try to avoid things and slow down and that’s when things happen even more.

“You continue to play fast and understand it’s the unfortunate part of what we do is the injury. For that, everyone needs to take a step back and think about Tank, think about Jared, think about all the guys involved on that play. Man, it’s tough for me, it’s tough for anybody to see anybody hurt. It’s deeper than football. We’re talking about real people with real emotions that are going through a tough time right now.”

Wayne is devastated by his unintentional role in Dell’s severe injury. He was inconsolable after the game in the locker room.

“With J. Wayne, I mean that guilt and that shame is something I deal with a lot, too,” Stroud said. “And I think, for him, the best thing that he can do is just be around us. And I’ve been able to pray over him. We went to church. I try to tell him just not to internalize it. It’s football. God didn’t cause this. Some things in life, it’s just what the nature of what you’re in, which is football. Things like that happen. And just because something tragic like that happens, doesn’t mean you should point the finger at yourself or anyone else. It’s part of the game.

“I feel for him. I understand what he’s going through and I think it’s good for him to be around just brothers right now and we’ve been able to actually build our relationship, even before this happened through the Lord. I think just what he’s feeling right now isn’t easy and it’s not something that I wish on my worst enemy. We’ve got to be here for him just as much as we’ve got to be here for Tank because you can just see it on him. And I think it’s important for us to be around him.”

SEE ALSO: ‘In God’s hands,’ Texans’ Tank Dell not sweating the small stuff after dislocating knee

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

His leg was immobilized to deal with the swelling. Then, the dislocation was addressed to get the knee back in place to prevent any further damage.

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

Ward was replaced initially by Myles Bryant before outside corner Kamari Lassiter shifted inside to the slot and Jeff Okudah replaced him at outside corner.

“Another guy that went down and he was in a lot of pain on the field as well, Jimmie, our thoughts are with him, as well,” Ryans said. “People lose sight that Jimmie went down as well as Tank. Unfortunately for Jimmie, him to go down that way. When it comes to our matchups, our personnel and how we’ll deploy our guys, still sorting through that. As of right now, it is still fresh and still sorting through how we will replace Jimmie.”

Mason was replaced at guard by Kendrick Green, who’s expected to start at right guard against the Baltimore Ravens.

“Lost another starter there in Shaq, so that hurts us,” Ryans said. “I thought Kendrick stepped in and did a really nice job. Our line, overall, did a really nice job all day of really competing, playing hard, physical. I really like what they did and we’ll see how the unit continues to progress.”

Dell was having one of his best performances of the season Saturday against the Super Bowl champion Chiefs when he got hurt, catching six passes for 98 yards and one score on seven targets.

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 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.”

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.”

Fifteen games into the season, Dell’s role hadn’t been as expansive as last season. He caught 51 passes for 667 yards and three touchdowns this season.

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 who returned from a shoulder injury.

“There is a chance John could be back,” Ryans said. “I think he’s progressing, so we’ll see where he ends up on Wednesday.”

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 Ravens, the team that ended their season during the AFC divisional round a year ago.

It’s a difficult turnaround in terms of the brutally short amount of time to prepare for a talented opponent. It’s doubly hard for the Texans considering the emotions surrounding this football team after a horrific injury suffered by one of the most popular players in their locker room and in the community.

“You know you have to,” Ryans said. “It’s easy to sit in and still it hurts and it will always be there with us. I don’t think the emotional piece will leave us because those guys are important pieces to our team and just really great people for our team and for our locker room. Meant a lot to us, so losing them is hard and it’s hard to move on but what’s in front of us, we’re here.

“‘We got the Ravens coming into our house and we have to move on. Easier said than done, of course, with such tough news to hear. It’s easier said than done, but we have to and that’s what we’ll do. You have to have other guys step up and we have to move forward. Our next opponent, they don’t care so we have to move forward, and we have to go play really good football against a really good team coming into our house.”