There was certainly a time where Tank Dell's career was in doubt. The Texans receiver suffered a multi-ligament knee injury in 2024 that left him sidelined for 22 months.
Sunday's game was not only huge for Dell, but his Texans teammates were arguably even happier for the receiver.
Dell had himself his first 100-yard receiving game since Week 9 of 2024, and it was just his second game back from that devastating injury. With the Texans already up big on the winless Chargers, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans pulled his starters. But he did leave Dell in the game.
The mission was to get Dell his 100 yards receiving, and we could see just how pumped the Texans were for Dell when it happened.
The #Texans pulled their starters in the 4th quarter but kept Tank
Dell in because he had 99 receiving yards. They wanted him to get to 100+ yards, and you can see what it meant to him when he did. 🙏🥹 (📽️ @ChancellorTV)pic.twitter.com/UfWC8yhZ0Z https://t.co/N5xyqC79VB
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) November 9, 2026
Dell finished the game with 105 yards and a touchdown in the 44-22 win.
After the game, Ryans told reporters about the emotional scene among the entire team on the sidelines. He said:
"Even when you go through an injury like he suffered, there are a lot of dark days. There are a lot of difficult moments on the road to recovery. A lot of people don't see that. They see where he is right now. Everybody on that sideline was really showing emotion and proud of the way Tank was able to come in and actually be an impact player for us, getting back to the plays that we're all used to seeing Tank make."
That had to be such a special moment for Dell. He deserved all of it.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Texans were so determined to get Tank Dell 100 yards even after pulling starters
