Tank Dell said he could not even hear the crowd. The Houston Texans receiver ran out of the tunnel at home on Sunday for his first game since December 21, 2024, and after a 27-21 overtime loss to the New York Giants he said: “To be honest, I couldn’t hear it. I couldn’t hear it like I wanted to, so it was a blessing just to come back out of a tunnel like that, and for the crowd to show love.”
Dell caught one pass, and it went for 43 yards. With two minutes left in the first half and Houston trailing 14-6, C.J. Stroud found him over the middle on first-and-20, and Dell ran to the Giants’ 30. Later on that drive, Stroud threw a 6-yard touchdown to Marvin Harrison Jr. and added a two-point pass to Cade Stover to tie the game 14-14. Dell also ran once for 2 yards and returned a punt 14 yards.
“I saw green grass”
Dell described the play. “I had a deep curl, 19-yard curl route, and I came out my break, I saw the ball,” he said. He said teammate Jaylin Noel “flashed in the picture a little bit, but I just stayed locked in on the ball and got the completion. And when I turned around, I just saw green grass, I was like, oh, I got to go.” Asked if Stroud was throwing to him, he said: “Oh, 100% he was.”
It was his first catch in 673 days. Dell had been out since he tore ligaments in his left knee and dislocated his kneecap while scoring a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 of the 2024 season. He missed the rest of that year and all of 2025, began this season on the physically unable to perform list and was activated on Saturday.
“I’m a playmaker, man”
Before the game Dell said he was “ready to get tackled.” After it, he said that had never worried him. “That was probably a worry of y’all’s or everybody else’s out there, but for me, like I said, man, I’ve been playing football for 20 years. I never cared about getting tackled,” he said. “It felt cool, actually.”
Asked if the big catch felt like relief, he said no. “I’m grateful for everything, you know, man, I’m a playmaker, man,” Dell said. “Like, I’m so used to making those plays, and it’s so many more to come.” He said he woke up at 5 a.m. and did not go back to sleep. “I didn’t feel no nervousness,” he said. “I felt more anxious than anything, jittery.”
“I need to come all the way off of that”
Noel, the second-year receiver, hurt his toe in the game and was in a walking boot afterward. Asked about a bigger role, Dell said: “Prayers up to Jay first and foremost, but y’all know me, man, I’m ready, you know, I’m ready for the role.” Asked whether his snap count could go up after the bye, he answered: “I don’t know about increase the snap count. I need to come all the way off of that. Like, I’m ready to roll.”
He also said he is comfortable returning punts. “I’ve been catching punts since college,” Dell said. “I’m very comfortable back there, fielding the ball, making guys miss and getting upfield and trying to break a touchdown. I haven’t did one of those yet, so that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Houston is 2-5 and 0-4 at home. Dell said the offense, which managed 153 passing yards, has to “stick together.” “Even if the offense go to a stale point, we got to just keep picking each other up,” he said. Stroud said in his own news conference that it meant “a lot” to see Dell back: “I’m just really proud of him.”
Dell, who turns 27 on Thursday, has 99 catches for 1,419 yards and 10 touchdowns in 26 career games. The Texans are off in Week 8 and visit the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, November 8, at 4:05 p.m. ET, which is 11:05 p.m. in Cairo.
No published comments yet. Start the conversation.