Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell suffered a significant knee injury while coming down with a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. As Dell hauled in a pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud, his legs got undercut by teammate Jared Wayne. Dell immediately pointed to his knee while on the ground and was unable to get up on his own, which resulted in him getting carted into an ambulance.
He was brought to University of Kansas Medical Center at a level one trauma center, 12 miles from Arrowhead, according to the NBC broadcast. After the game, head coach DeMeco Ryans provided an update on the wide receiver, saying Dell will remain in the Kansas City hospital overnight for further evaluation of the "significant" knee injury.
"Just all our thoughts and prayers are with Tank right now ... it hurts to see him go down like that. He was having a fantastic game ... and we just want to keep him in our thoughts and prayers right now," Ryans said.
Stroud, who was struggling to speak at first, gave credit to his teammates for helping lift him up during a difficult time on the field.
"All you can do is really pray ... It's not easy, but I try to use that as motivation," he said. "It's not easy to just let it go, especially that's my best friend. Not easy to move on and just keep playing, but I try to do as best as I could. My teammates helped me up ... so I appreciate those guys talking to me, you know I was going through it, so I appreciate them just being there for me."
The medical staff stabilized Dell's entire left leg in a vacuum splint, which is used when there's concern about severe instability or fracture. It stabilizes from the hip to the foot. The team then quickly ruled him out with a knee injury.
His teammates, including Stroud, were seen praying and crying for their teammate. As Dell was lifted onto the ambulance, his teammates surrounded him, hugging each other. They were emotional about the scene in front of them.
Dell, a third-round pick in 2023, had six receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown before going down with the injury.