Houston Texans WR Tank Dell will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a fractured left fibula in his team’s win over the Denver Broncos Sunday.
Dell went down with 3:53 remaining in the 1st quarter after his legs were caught up in the pile following Dameon Pierce’s 3 yard TD run. The rookie wide receiver was quickly surrounded by teammates before being carted off and ruled out for the remainder of the game.
“To lose Tank there with a leg injury, it hurts our team because of what he means to our team, not only on the field but off the field,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said following the 22-17 win. “Tank always has a huge smile on his face, always full of energy, and it just really hurts losing Tank.”
Dell was in the midst of solid rookie campaign, posting 47 receptions for 709 yards and 7 TDs on the season prior to going down. The 24 year old was a 3rd round selection out of the University of Houston where he starred for the Cougars accumulating 109 catches for 1,398 yards and 17 TDs in his final season with the school.
The timing of Dell’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time as he was in the midst of a 4 game streak with a touchdown, scoring 5 through the air since Week 9. In Week 11 he posted career highs with 8 receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown vs. the Arizona Cardinals.
“Man, it hurt bad,” fellow wideout Nico Collins told reporters. “You don’t ever want to see someone get hurt. You see the hard work he puts in every single day. Hate to see one of our brothers go down like that.”
With the win, Houston moves to 7-5 on the season and are square in the mix for a playoff spot in head coach DeMeco Ryans first year with the team. Their record puts them in a 4 way tie with the Steelers, Colts and Browns, but find themselves technically on the outside of the postseason picture due to tiebreakers.
The Texans are next in action on December 10th against the New York Jets.
Photo: KeithJJ. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.