Tank Dell injury update: Severity, diagnosis, timeline revealed on gruesome Texans WR injury

Houston Texans (9-6) receiver Tank Dell suffered extensive damage to his left knee in this past Saturday’s 27-19 Week 16 road defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs (14-1).

Head coach DeMeco Ryans revealed Monday that Dell dislocated his knee and tore his ACL. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston, Dell also tore his medial collateral and lateral collateral ligaments and sustained damage to his meniscus. The second-year wideout is not only out for the remainder of this season, but 2025 appears to be in jeopardy as well.

“This is a much more difficult recovery than just an ACL, it’s a knee dislocation with three of four major ligaments torn and it’s a long road back,” former 17-year NFL team head doctor David Chao told Wilson. “Unfortunately, it has to be considered career threatening, but we all hope not career-ending. Surgery is usually staged with this severe an injury. Whatever you can repair, you repair now, the MCL and LCL. The ACL is typically a reconstruction, and you delay that until later when swelling goes down and there’s more mobility.

“A typical recovery timetable, it would be great if he could participate at some point next season, but it’s far from guaranteed he will play at any point next season. It’s similar to what happened with Browns running back Nick Chubb. They’re both knee dislocations, but not all knee dislocations are the same. This is a much more complicated surgery process than an isolated ACL and, as such, it’s going to be multiple surgeries and lots of follow-up. As much as this is a devastating injury, Nick Chubb did return to play his next season. Let’s hope for a similar good outcome for Tank Dell.”

Tank Dell facing long recovery after Week 16 injury

The injury occurred as Dell came down with a touchdown catch in the third quarter and collided with teammate Jared Wayne in the end zone. Dell had a team-high 98 yards on six catches before the injury.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud was in tears as Dell’s leg was placed in an air cast.

“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 after [the injury], 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, Joe [Mixon] helped me up and Dalton [Schultz]. I appreciate the guys just talking to me because I was going through it.”

Dell, a third-round pick out of Houston, has been through his share of adversity in the past calendar year. The 25-year-old saw his standout rookie season come to a premature end after breaking his fibula. In April, he was shot at a private event in Sanford, Florida. Dell suffered a minor wound in the shooting. Dell has been through a lot, and he faces another long recovery throughout the new year.