The Houston Texans have been short-handed at wide receiver all season long with the absence of Tank Dell.
Dell has been out since last year when he suffered a major knee injury that saw him dislocate his knee cap and tear his ACL, MCL, LCL and sustain damage to his meniscus.
This wasn't the first significant injury Dell has suffered, as he sustained a fractured fibula in 2023 that also ended his season early.
Prior to his injuries, Dell was emerging as a top-notch weapon in Houston's offense and was on a Pro Bowl trajectory. We can only hope the exciting young wideout can return to that form when he comes back.
But when will he be back? Here's what we know.
Will Tank Dell play this season?
While Texans general manager Nick Caserio didn't rule Dell out for the entire season back in July, the expectation is he won't suit up in 2025.
He suffered the catastrophic knee injury last December and it typically takes about a year or so to recover from all the damage he sustained. Week 16 will be exactly one year from when Dell came down with the injury.
Even if Dell is able to make it back in the last weeks of the season, it might not make sense to bring him back if the Texans are no longer in the playoff hunt.
That's a possible scenario, as the Texans are sitting at 5-5 and in third place in the AFC South and in the No. 8 spot in the AFC playoff picture going into Week 12.
The last we saw Dell, he was on the practice field helping quarterback C.J. Stroud in his recovery from a concussion earlier this week.
Of course, Dell wasn't actually practicing but was instead just catching passes. He seemed to be moving well, though, so that is good news.
We'll continue to hold out hope that Dell will play at some point this season, but chances are we won't see him on the field again until 2026.
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