Tank Dell’s return is getting closer, but the Texans still haven’t committed to a game date.
Houston opened Dell’s 21-day practice window a little over a week ago after the wide receiver came back from injured reserve, and Wednesday’s injury report brought another encouraging step: he was listed as a full participant. That’s a strong sign after a long layoff dating back to his severe knee injury in December of 2024, but it still doesn’t mean he’s ready for game action.
The big question now is whether Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars is realistic. For the moment, the answer is still murky.
Texans general manager Nick Caserio addressed Dell’s status on 95.7 The Fan with Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast ahead of Houston’s Week 6 trip to London, and he kept the tone measured. Dell is progressing, but the team is still using the full window to evaluate where he is.
"With those players, you have 21 days. So, he practiced last week.
He'll practice again here this week. We'll kind of evaluate where he is.
Unless he has a setback--he's trending in the right direction," Caserio said of Dell.
That’s the key phrase here: trending in the right direction. Dell has started to stack up practice work again, and getting full participation for multiple sessions would only strengthen his case to be activated. But the Texans are still checking off the bigger boxes in his recovery.
Two of the most important ones are contact and speed. Dell has to show he can handle contact and get back to the top-end burst that made him such a dangerous piece of the offense before the injury.
The more reps he gets in pads, the better his chances look. At the same time, that process could easily push his actual return back another week or two, which would take Week 6 against Jacksonville off the table.
There’s also a possible longer runway here. Waiting until Houston’s Week 8 bye would give the Texans more time before making the decision, and it would also create an extra week of practice before the next game in Week 9 against the LA Chargers. The Wednesday of the bye week is the last day of Houston’s 21-day window to activate Dell.
Caserio didn’t dismiss that idea when asked about it. For now, though, the team is focused on how this week plays out.
"Look, you have 21 days. So, within that 21-day period, you're either going to activate him, or you're not. So, we'll kind of handle this week, we'll kind of see how this week goes, and make an assessment at the end of the week," Caserio continued.
"But, he's certainly done everything we've asked him to do, and he's turning in the right direction."
So the picture is fairly simple: Dell is advancing, the Texans are encouraged, and the decision still hasn’t been made. His return could come as early as Week 6 in London, or it could wait all the way until Week 9 on the road in Los Angeles.
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