“It hurts to see him go down like that”: Texans share thoughts on Tank Dell’s injury

In the aftermath of their road loss at Kansas City on Saturday, the Texans were sad for their teammate—and brother—Tank Dell.

The wide receiver suffered a leg injury catching a third quarter touchdown pass in the 27-19 loss to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Dell was put on a stretcher and carted off the field, then driven by ambulance to a hospital, where he’ll stay the night.

“You guys can see what he means to our entire team,” Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said. “It hurts to see him go down like that. He was having a fantastic game, playing really, well for us. We just want to keep him in our thoughts and prayers right now.”

Dell came down with the 30-yard reception from quarterback C.J. Stroud, and it was his sixth catch of the afternoon for a total of 98 yards. Multiple times in the postgame press conference, Stroud referenced how he and the Texans were praying for Dell.

“I believe in healing,” Stroud said. “I pray that the Lord can heal him and that this is just something that will be another bump in the road for Tank. This is not the end for Tank. This is just the beginning.”

Fellow receiver Nico Collins felt for Dell, pointing to the second-year pass-catcher’s comeback from a leg injury suffered in early December of 2023.

“He’s just one of my brothers,” Collins said. “You don’t want to see one of your brothers go down like that, especially with the hard work and grind and time he put in every day. It sucks. Especially the season he had last year, he got hurt. So we knew his mindset coming into this year. The dude’s special. His mindset every day was to come out to work. He always brings energy.”

Running back Joe Mixon agreed.

“Tank fought his ass off to get healthy from what he was going through in the offseason,” Mixon said. “My man showed up to work each and every day with the best mindset, the best attitude. It’s an unfortunate situation and that’s the nature of this game.”

Ryans said the Texans would have an update on Dell at some point on Sunday.