HOUSTON – Texans tight end Cade Stover twisted his knee awkwardly Sunday against the New England Patriots while trying to corral an errant pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud.
A magnetic resonance imaging exam confirmed the anterior cruciate ligament is intact and Stover suffered partially torn medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligament damage and won’t require surgery, per league sources.
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With rest and rehab, Stover could be back for the offseason conditioning program, per general manager Nick Caserio.
“Cade avoided serious injury,” Caserio said Wednesday at NRG Stadium. “I think he’s going to be okay. Probably going to be ready for the offseason program. Probably not as bad as it looked. It looked pretty bad. I think he’s going to be okay.
Stover, 25, a former fourth-round draft pick and Big Ten Conference Tight End of the Year from Ohio State, caught 12 passes for 76 yards in nine games after missing time for a broken foot during the regular season. He has 27 catches for 209 yards and one touchdown in two seasons. He rushed for three yards and two first downs on four runs out of a Wildcat formation this season in short-yardage situations.
Texans tight end Dalton Schultz caught a team-high and career-high 82 passes. He injured his calf against the Patriots.
“Dalton will be okay,” Caserio said. “I don’t think it’s anything major. Overall, got pretty good production from that group. Dalton had a really good season. Broke the franchise record for career receptions by a tight end. A guy whose record he broke was a damn good player (Owen Daniels).
“You guys know him very well. Dalton had really good year. He was healthy. Quite frankly wasn’t healthy last year. He’s not going to say anything and make an excuse but got really good production from them. Dalton had really good year, very dependable, very instinctive and a very smart player.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com