AFC Notes: Tank Dell, Derrick Henry, Gardner Minshew, Colts, Texans, Titans

Colts

Colts QB Gardner Minshew and HC Shane Steichen were happy to get the win in overtime on Sunday against the Titans.

“We’re very gritty. We’re gonna find a way. It’s not always gonna be sexy, but dang, it’s good,” Minshew told CBS Sports.

“It’s just guys believing,” Steichen said, via the team website. “I mean, you hear that word a lot and it’s true. If you believe every time you go out that you’re gonna win a football game, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what the situation is, you keep fighting and you keep going and you find ways at the end. If you believe you’re gonna win, you’re gonna go out there and win the game.”

Texans

Texans QB C.J. Stroud, HC DeMeco Ryans, and WR Nico Collins all weighed in on the loss of WR Tank Dell, who fractured his fibula on Sunday against the Broncos and will miss the rest of what was a strong rookie campaign.

“I’m lost for words, I honestly don’t know what to say,” Stroud said, via Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston.com. “You see your brother put in so much work and be so helpful, and one thing about Tank is he’s very unselfish. To see him go out, the game of football is tough. We fight our tails off every day to make people happy. We put our bodies on the line, time and time again. To see that happen, it’s cold. It’s not easy. I got to be there for him. More so than anything, forget football, Tank as a person, I know it’s going to be tough for him to get out of that. I’m hurt. I can’t sugarcoat it. I can’t come up here, lie, and say we’ll be all right. No, it’s not. I love him to death. I told him that. Seven and three (their jersey numbers) will be a great, great duo for the next couple years when he gets back. I love my brother to death, I’m praying for him, and I’m here for him no matter what.”

“No one replaces Tank, Tank is his own man,” Ryans added. “Nobody replaces Tank, but everybody around him just has to step up and just do their part – be their best in whatever role, whatever area we ask them to. We just ask them to be their best. It takes everyone. When you lose a guy who brings that emotional lift to your team, it’s going to take everyone to dig a little deeper and pick it up and do a little bit better. Really hurt us losing Tank. Tank has been very valuable to our team. He has provided a spark to our team each and every week that he’s on the field. Everybody is just waiting for that moment. You know it’s going to happen when he shows up and he makes an explosive play for us or he’s scoring a touchdown. So, to lose Tank there with a leg injury hurts our team really because of what he means to our team. Not only on the field, but off the field Tank always has a huge smile on his face, always full of energy. Just really hurts losing Tank.”

“You see the hard work he put in every single day, and to come out like that, it hurt,” Collins noted. “I can’t really say much on it. Hate to see one of our brothers go down like that. He will be missed, most definitely. So, now it’s time to step up, everybody. We can’t skip a beat. When one goes down, we all need to step up and continue to be us. Hate to see my dawg go down like that, but we’ve got to keep going.”

Titans

• Adam Schefter reports Titans’ RB Derrick Henry is in concussion protocol and his status is questionable for Monday night against the Dolphins.