Texans: Tank Dell ‘will make a full recovery’ after being shot, but his status for Week 1 isn’t clear
Texans owner Cal McNair and head coach DeMeco Ryans both spoke publicly about Tank Dell on Monday for the first time since the Houston receiver was shot at a Florida bar.
They spoke with media from the team’s annual charity golf tournament in Houston. Dell was not at the event and has yet to address the shooting publicly since it took place April 28. Dell was one of 10 victims shot in a mass shooting outside the The Cabana Live in the Orlando suburb of Sanford.
None of the shooting victims suffered life-threatening injuries, according to authorities on the scene. On the day of the shooting the Texans announced that Dell “sustained a minor wound but has been released from the hospital and he is in good spirits.”
McNair echoed that sentiment Monday while telling reporters that it was “frightening” to hear the news of the shooting.
âIt looks like Tank will make a full recovery,â McNair said. âWe saw him in the office the other day, and he looked good, in good spirits. But heâll have to rehab and get back to where he was.â
#Texans Cal McNair and Hannah McNair on Tank Dell recovery after suffering gunshot wound as innocent bystander in Florida mass shooting called situation ‘frightening’ they’re relieved he’s going to be fine @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/Fp4jXQAotA
â Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 6, 2024
Per AP, Ryans was reticent to discuss Dell’s situation and declined to answer when asked if he expected Dell to be ready to play in Houston’s Week 1 game in the fall. He did say that he’s spoken several times with Dell and that they had a “good conversation.”
âIâve talked to him several times and Tank will be fine,” he said, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston
Wilson reports that Dell was an innocent bystander in the shooting and sustained a flesh wound in one of his legs. Dell had previously recovered from a fractured fibula that cut short his standout rookie season. It’s not clear if the injuries are to the same leg.
Details of Tank Dell’s injury remain unclear, and his status for the start of the 2024 season is uncertain. (Ryan Kang/Getty Images)
Prior to the shooting, Dell had been participating in Houston’s offseason conditioning program and throwing sessions with quarterback C.J. Stroud. Per Wilson, a source told him that Dell is healing “quickly” from his gunshot wound.
Dell emerged as one of Houston’s primary offensive weapons as a rookie, tallying 41 catches for 709 yards with seven touchdowns in a 11 games before injury cut his season short. He was a favorite target of quarterback C.J. Stroud, who won Rookie of the Year honors in a historic rookie season that propelled the Texans to the AFC South title and a first-round playoff win over the Cleveland Browns. Whenever Dell returns, he projects as a top playmaker in Houston and one of the league’s most promising young receivers.
A 16-year-old was arrested as the suspected shooter and detained in a juvenile detention center. He faces charges of attempted homicide, discharging a firearm on public property, display and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a minor.
