{"id":958459,"date":"2026-07-29T08:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T08:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/958459\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T08:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T08:03:19","slug":"tank-dell-cleared-for-texans-return-after-missing-2025-with-knee-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/958459\/","title":{"rendered":"Tank Dell cleared for Texans return after missing 2025 with knee injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texans fans just got news they\u2019ve been waiting months to hear:<\/p>\n

Tank Dell is back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The wideout wasn\u2019t on the Texans list of physically unable to perform players, meaning he\u2019s cleared for football activity and will be ready for the start of training camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After suffering<\/a> a torn ACL, LCL and MCL on the same play in December 2024 against the Chiefs, Dell missed the entire 2025 season<\/a> in what was a crucial blow to the Texans\u2019 receiver room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TankTank Dell of the Texans reacts during the team\u2019s mandatory minicamp. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 2023 third-round pick suffered the injury while hauling in a 30-yard touchdown, and also dislocated his knee and had meniscus damage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The speedy wideout underwent two surgeries following the injury and offered his first public comments about his recovery process in January, calling it<\/a> \u201cthe hardest year of my life,\u201d according to the Houston Chronicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dell also said, \u201cI\u2019m back. I feel like I\u2019m feeling really good right now. \u2026 Once the season comes, we\u2019re gonna cook up.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s certainly capable of \u201ccooking up.\u201d At least based on his college career and first two NFL seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After finishing his college career with two 1,000-plus yard seasons at Houston, Dell burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2023 with 709 receiving yards in just 11 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"HoustonTexans wide receiver Tank Dell covers his face as he is taken off the field on a stretcher after being injured while catching a touchdown pass during the second half of their loss to the Chiefs on Dec. 21, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. AP<\/p>\n

Dell immediately formed a potent connection with quarterback C.J. Stroud, who had his best season in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old had three 100-yard-plus games as a rookie and had the game-winning touchdown in a thrilling 39-37 win over the Buccaneers mid-season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even with Stroud regressing in 2024, Dell still had 667 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games before injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Dell\u2019s absence was felt in 2025, as no other Texans receiver had over 800 yards outside of Nico Collins, who had 1,117.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The speedster\u2019s return may also help Stroud return to rookie form, as the former Ohio State signal-caller is entering a make-or-break year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texans fans just got news they\u2019ve been waiting months to hear: Tank Dell is back.\u00a0 The wideout wasn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":958460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[1028,7,221,253,2368,6,9,222],"class_list":["post-958459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-texans","tag-c-j-stroud","tag-football","tag-houston","tag-houston-texans","tag-houstontexans","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-texans"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117002227517024682","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=958459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/958460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=958459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=958459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=958459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}