Diggs suffered the non-contact injury late in the third quarter of Houston’s 23–20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8. He was running a route on a play while being covered by Colts cornerback Kenny Moore. When trying to make a cut, Diggs stepped awkwardly and then immediately began hopping on his left leg while grabbing at his right knee. He then crumpled to the turf and was surrounded by Texans trainers. While he was able to walk on his own off the field and to the locker room, he didn’t return to the game and won’t return this season.
On the possession prior to Diggs getting hurt, he and quarterback C.J. Stroud connected on a 49-yard pass that eventually led to a Texans field goal. That was Diggs’s longest play of the season, and thus his Texans career, and it also happened to be his final reception of the season.
Stroud talked about what the loss of Diggs means, and how it is especially hard considering what Diggs told him about his first season in Houston.
“I really feel bad for him. He’s worked extremely hard. I think he was having one of the best times he’s ever had on a team—at least that’s what he told us. I’m praying for him and hoping he keeps his head up high, and he’ll bounce back even stronger.”
Diggs finished Sunday’s game with five receptions for 81 yards as the Texans improved to 6–2. For the season, his final stats are 47 catches for 496 yards and three receiving touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown, his first on the ground in his 10-year career.
The loss of Diggs is compounded by the fact that the team’s leading receiver, Nico Collins, is on short-term injured reserve and has missed the past three games. He will miss at least one more game but was leading the NFL in receiving yards before getting hurt.
The 30-year-old receiver will at least have family support as he navigates recovery as his brother, Trevon Diggs, happened to suffer a torn ACL just last season. The younger Diggs, a cornerback with the Dallas Cowboys, hurt his knee during practice after just four games last season, but he fully recovered and has started every game this year.
If there can be a saving grace from this type of news, it would be the timing of it for the Texans. The NFL trade deadline isn’t until Nov. 5, giving the team a week to potentially make a move to bring in some receiver help. With Diggs out for the year and Collins still on IR—with no guarantee that he will return in Week 10—the team will rely more on second-year receiver Tank Dell, who is going through a sophomore slump. Dell averaged 64.5 receiving yards during his rookie season, but is producing half of that in his second season, at 32.7 yards per game.
