CJ Stroud was in shambles as he watched teammate Tank Dell get carted off the field Saturday with a knee injury.
Stroud’s Houston Texans were trailing the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 early in the third quarter of their game at Arrowhead Stadium. The Texans had a 2nd-and-7 from the Kansas City 30 and ran a play-action fake to the left, with Stroud rolling to his right. Stroud found Dell in the back of the end zone for a touchdown catch to make it 17-16. The problem is teammate Jared Wayne crunched Dell’s left leg while diving for the ball.
CJ Stroud connects with Tank Dell for a 30-yard touchdown
📺: #HOUvsKC on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/yqn1VFbpVU— NFL (@NFL) December 21, 2024
This angle shows just how bad the injury was:
Tank Dell #texans
Oh no. His left foot is trapped as his teammate lands into the outside of his left knee. Concern for multi-ligament injury. Likely ACL/MCL. Awful for him pic.twitter.com/vLzE963C4a
— Tom Christ, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT (@FantasyInjuryT) December 21, 2024
Stroud was in complete shambles after seeing his teammate get injured. He knew it was bad.
CJ Stroud understandably devastated that Tank Dell may have a second straight season ending, devastating injury. pic.twitter.com/LHAFpYWhIS
— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (BlueSky too now) (@sluggahjells) December 21, 2024
Man, a gutwrenching injury for Tank Dell. CJ Stroud was emotional on the field. pic.twitter.com/CcvEnfQfRP
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) December 21, 2024
Both Stroud and Dell were drafted by the Texans in 2023, which makes them closer than other teammates. This is also the second straight year where Dell has suffered a serious leg injury, which adds to the impact of the matter, and helps explain Stroud’s difficult emotions.
