Higgins is Noel's best friend and was a best man in his wedding.

“Yeah, it's really tough," Higgins said. "Just knowing the work he put in, knowing the person he is, just a person that goes out every day with a chip on his shoulder to get better and just honestly becoming one of the leaders, by example, on this team and him making spectacular plays every day.

"It's really hard when you see somebody of that caliber go down. That being my brother, honestly, he was at my wedding, one of the best men at my wedding. Seeing him go through that is hard. But just like he was there for me while I was going through my injuries, I'm going to be there for him. He's going to come back better than when he left.”

Noel didn’t have a large role carved out as a rookie after being drafted in the third round out of Iowa State. His first NFL season netted 26 catches for 292 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games, three starts and 35 targets. It was a good catch to target ratio that included 13 first downs.

Replacing Higgins, who caught six touchdowns last season as a rookie, is expected to be a collective, not an individual feat.

“Every man has to do their job, honestly," Noel said. "It's not going to be one guy that can step up and change the trajectory of where we're going to go. It's going to be everybody. As long as everybody does their job, we'll be in a good spot.”

And Noel averaged 10.8 yards per punt return with a long return of 53 yards and 27.6 yards per kickoff return. The former Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Year finished the season with 1,438 all-purpose yards.

"Jaylin’s done a good job of bouncing back, getting back into the swing of things, just continuing to get reps to build up his stamina to get out there," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. "He's done a great job of progressing on the side, and he's looked fine as he's been out there with the team during the team reps.”

While backup running back Woody Marks is competing for the kickoff returner role with him, Noel figures to still have a heavy special-teams role again.

At Iowa State, Noel, one of the fastest players on the roster with 4.39 speed in the 40-yard dash, showed what he can do as far as run after the catch capabilities. He caught a career-high 80 passes for 1,194 yards and eight touchdowns in his final college season.

Noel was one of the fastest and highest-jumping wide receivers at the combine with a 41 1/2 inch vertical leap. The Texans signed him to a four-year, $6.466 million contract that includes a $1.34 million signing bonus.

He plans to put his skills to good use this fall.

“Looking forward to it a lot, being able to be a game-changer, being able to make big plays,” Noel said. “I think that’s what I bring to the Texans, so just go out there, roll, be myself. A lot of growth for me, whether that’s just on the field, off the field, all those different things.

“Just building confidence with everything I do, perfecting my route running and just being ready to go for next season. I’m very excited. Any opportunity I can get in this league, it’s an opportunity to show what I can do, and I’m excited to roll this year.”

Noel’s mobility and compact frame at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds makes him well-suited to operate out of the slot and make plays underneath and behind coverage by creating separation.

“I feel like for me, not only with speed in general, I also feel like I’m twitchy, so to be able to get in and out of cuts quick, also my IQ of the game, being able to understand the defense, sitting in zones, winning against man,” Noel said. “My speed and versatility, I feel like I can run every route on the field. So, to be able to do that in the slot, it’s going to be good.

“It’s just my determination with the ball in my hands, wanting to make big plays. And then just to improve on it, just being able to know when the ball’s coming to me, which way I’m stepping, getting up the field quick, split two defenders. All those little things that allow me to continue to improve my run after the catch.”

The chemistry is growing between Noel and Stroud is building.

They’ve been spending a lot of time and hard work on making their connection sharper.

“It feels really good to be back, just understanding and realizing what that time away, not taking it for granted, being able to play this game," Noel said. "Then catching from C.J., it feels really good. He's a great quarterback and just to continue to build that chemistry and get as much as we can in before the season.”