The news just keeps on getting worse for Tank Dell.
The Houston Texans wide receiver Dell went down in Week 16 against the Kansas City Chiefs with a gruesome left knee injury. Dell hauled in a deep pass from Texans quarterback CJ Stroud for a 30-yard touchdown in the third quarter. But teammate Jared Wayne fell into Dell’s leg as he was making the catch, causing a horrific injury (video here).
On Monday, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans disclosed that Dell, who had to be carted off the field in an air cast, had suffered a dislocated kneecap as well as a torn ACL on the play.
But a report Tuesday from Aaron Wilson from KPRC 2 in Houston revealed that the damage to Dell’s knee was actually even worse than that. Wilson reports that Dell also tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL), tore his lateral collateral ligament (LCL), and sustained damage to his meniscus.
The 25-year-old Dell, a third-round pick in 2023, has some explosive ability as a playmaker, catching 51 passes for 667 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games this season. But he already saw his rookie year end early thanks to a fractured fibula and is now facing an even lengthier recovery with an injury that could foreseeably sideline Dell for all of the 2025 season too given the extent of that damage.
