Subscribe
Follow Us
It will be a bittersweet Sunday afternoon of football for the Houston Texans (7-5) in Week 14. They enter their matchup against the New York Jets currently as an AFC playoff team but do so knowing that rookie wide receiver Tank Dell is done for the rest of the season.
That heartbreaking news, which came after the former Houston Cougars star suffered a leg injury in the Texans' big win over the Denver Broncos last week, absolutely rocked the team and coaching staff. First-year offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik expressed just how much it stung learning that Dell would have to be placed on Injured Reserve in the midst of a superb campaign.
“I think everyone will kind of have the same reaction on the team to that one,” he told SportsRadio610, per Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper. “It’s gut-wrenching. It hurts. It almost brings a tear — not almost — it did bring a tear to my eye. That one hurts a lot.”
Tank Dell gave the Texans' offense a dangerous edge
The third-round pick recorded 47 receptions for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games. His production will be difficult to replace, but fans should still have plenty of optimism about the Texans' chances going forward. After all. they happen to have another rookie sensation who has proven adept at improvising and overcoming adversity early in his NFL career.
CJ Stroud is already one of the most electrifying quarterbacks, nay players, in the league. Moreover, he still has some viable wide receiver targets to lean on in No. 1 Nico Collins, veteran Robert Woods and the returning Noah Brown. Young wideouts John Metchie and Xavier Hutchinson now move up the depth chart and could be asked to fill a bigger role.
“We think both of those guys do some things very, very well, and we want to take advantage of that and put those guys in positions to do that,” Bobby Slowik said. Collins is sneakily approaching 1,000 receiving yards on the season and should maintain his excellent chemistry with Stroud, even if other players don't break out down the stretch.
Houston is running into the ideal opponent in its first week without Tank Dell. Despite the Jets boasting a ferocious defensive attack, their feeble offense should give the visiting Texans at least some room for error as they make the necessary adjustments.
