Texans' CJ Stroud, Houston teammates react to Tank Dell's scary knee injury

12/21/2024 07:48 PM

In a 27-19 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16, the Houston Texans lost much more than a football game. With Texans receiver Tank Dell exiting the game on a cart with an immobilization brace on his left leg, it was clear that their second-year receiver suffered a serious injury. Following the injury to a player like Dell, Texans quarterback CJ Stroud and the rest of his teammates had nothing but positive words to say, as the star receiver looks to bounce back from his second serious lower-body injury within two seasons.

One of the players who seemed to take this the hardest was Stroud, who shied away from hiding his emotions in the post-game press conference. However, he was grateful for the Chiefs’ hospitality, joining the Texans in an on-field prayer following Dell’s injury.

“It’s not easy seeing your brother go down like that,” Stroud said with a somber look stuck on his face. “No one on the field wants to see anybody get hurt or anything like that, so it was nice for [the Kansas City Chiefs] to say their prayers and to have a heart like that.”

#Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud on loss of his friend, wide receiver Tank Dell, to terrible knee injury, and emotional situation for AFC South winners @KPRC2pic.twitter.com/3huNWpdPfZ

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 21, 2024

Along with Stroud, running back Joe Mixon shared his thoughts on losing a teammate and brother like Dell.

“Obviously, it’s an unfortunate injury,” Mixon said. “[Tank Dell] fought his a** off to get healthy from what he was going through in the offseason. I mean, my man showed up to work each and every day with the best mindset, best attitude, and it’s just an unfortunate situation. That’s the nature of this game, you can’t never take it for granted. You know, you play like it’s your last because you’re never guaranteed the next.”

As a player who shared the field with Dell during the play, Mixon also added how he was able to comfort the Texans’ second-year receiver after he suffered the knee injury.

“When you got your brother right there screaming in pain, and it’s really nothing you can do, that s**t sucks,” Mixon said. “I just try to do whatever I can to let him know that we’re there for him, praying over him, letting him know that God got you. At the end of the day, you never want to see anybody in this sport get hurt like that, man. It’s unfortunate, but we just gotta be there for him.”

A somber #Texans locker room as Joe Mixon @Joe_MainMixon reacts to significant Tank Dell left knee injury that is expected to end his season @KPRC2pic.twitter.com/rI9SQ5deB3

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 21, 2024

Another player who openly spoke about the injury was Xavier Hutchinson, a receiver who joined the Texans in the same draft class as Dell.

“It’s hard, it’s tough,” Hutchinson said. “You never want to see someone like Tank, especially, go out with everything that he’s been through, everything that he’s battled through, just to see him come back and have the game that he was having, it sucks. He’s a big part of this team, and we’re going to miss him.”

#Texans wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson reacts to Tank Dell horrible left knee injury @KPRC2pic.twitter.com/aHQVX57uPB

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 21, 2024

The last player to speak on Dell’s injury was Nico Collins, another receiver on this Texans team who missed significant time this season with an injury, per Aaron Wilson on X.

“It hurts,” Collins said. “We know how much he meant to this team, but losing one of your brothers, man, it hurts. Speedy recovery for [Tank Dell]. 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”

So, with Dell expected to miss the remainder of the 2024 season, the Texans have extra reason to fight as hard as they can with three games remaining.

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