Houston Texans Lose Pro Bowl Receiver Stefon Diggs for Season After Torn ACL

The four-time Pro Bowler suffered the non-contact injury on Sunday, ending his debut season in Houston after eight games.
Houston Texans Lose Pro Bowl Receiver Stefon Diggs for Season After Torn ACL
Stefon Diggs of the Houston Texans walks off the field after his injury in the third quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium in Houston on Oct. 27, 2024. Tim Warner/Getty Images
Ross Kelly
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Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs’s debut season with the Houston Texans is now over, as a torn ACL suffered on Sunday will force him to miss the rest of the year. The team announced the move on Tuesday and placed Diggs on injured reserve, ending his season after just eight games.

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.

“It’s tough,” Stroud told reporters Tuesday. “It’s not something I have a whole bunch of words for. I’m just wrapping my mind around what happened, but it’s tough. You try to think positively about it, but there’s not a bunch of positive thoughts.

“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.

Diggs was acquired in a blockbuster trade this offseason, along with a sixth-round pick, from the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a second-round pick. With Buffalo, he made Pro Bowls in each of the past four seasons, making him and Tyreek Hill the only wide receivers to accomplish that feat. Diggs was also a two-time All-Pro selection during his four years in Buffalo while leading the NFL in both receptions and receiving yards in 2020. Since that season, no player has more catches than Diggs’s 492, while he ranks fourth in both receiving yards (5,868) and receiving touchdowns (40) over that span.
The wideout began his career with five seasons as a Minnesota Viking, where he is best known for being on the receiving end of the Minneapolis Miracle play. Diggs scored on a 61-yard walk-off touchdown reception to shock the New Orleans Saints in a 2018 divisional playoff game. It was the first postseason game in NFL history to end in regulation with a touchdown as time expired.
Diggs now faces a lengthy rehab and an uncertain future with the Texans, as shortly after being acquired from Buffalo, he restructured his contract to become a free agent in 2025. He will be among a litany of veteran receivers set to become free agents after this season, a list that includes DeAndre Hopkins, Amari Cooper, and Keenan Allen.

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.

Ross Kelly
Ross Kelly
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Ross Kelly is a sports journalist who has been published by ESPN, CBS and USA Today. He has also done statistical research for Stats Inc. and Synergy Sports Technology. A graduate of LSU, Ross resides in Houston.