Dell, who also had a 14-yard punt return and a two-yard end around, looked good throughout the game in limited action.

Dell played 14 snaps on offense and one snap on special teams.

“It meant a lot," Stroud said. "I'm just really proud of him, just really excited for him. It's a long year. He's going to get a lot more plays. Just to see him make a big play like that in the game was really cool. Just the energy of the crowd seeing him and thought he handled it very well. Prepared his butt off this week and got to find more ways to get him more touches, but I thought overall, really just proud of him.”

A former third-round draft pick from the University of Houston, Dell provided a boost to his team.

He's an inspiration to his teammates and the coaching staff.

“It was very electric seeing Tank come out of the tunnel," said Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, who has encouraged Dell throughout this difficult process. "It was really an awesome moment. You felt the energy from our crowd. You felt the emotions running high with him running out of the tunnel for the first time in two years and then to be able to see him create an explosive pass for us there, it's fun to watch.

"Really excited for Tank. Proud of Tank for all the work he's put in. Man, happy that he was able to contribute today by getting some plays out there. So, you know, this is just the start for him. Expect to continue to increase his load and see him do more for us and create more explosive plays.”

On the catch that set up a Stroud touchdown, Dell ran a deep curl route. The play looked like it was supposed to go to someone else, but Dell insisted it was all him.

"I had a deep curl, a 19-yard curl route and when I came out of my break, I saw the ball was coming to me," Dell said. "Then out of nowhere I saw 'J-Noel' [Jaylin Noel] flash. He flashed into the picture a little bit, but I just stayed locked in on the ball. We got the completion and when I turned around I just saw green grass, so I was like, 'Oh, I have to go.' It was a great reception and I'm just blessed for that to happen."

Although many were worried about the knee and how Dell would respond to contact, that turned out to be misplaced concern.

Dell did fine when he got tackled. He had actually been tackled in practice before by linebacker Henry To'oTo'o to get him ready for the rigors of a game.

"That was never a worry of mine," Dell said. "That was probably a worry of y'all or everybody else's out there. For me, I've been playing football for 20 years. I never cared about getting tackled. Even when I had nowhere to go, y'all still saw me try to stay up and do something with the ball. I didn't have any worries on getting tackled. It felt cool, actually.

"I only got tackled like three times. I don't feel any pain or anything. I feel cool. I'm expecting to go back to the meeting rooms and look at what we did wrong and see how we can get better and move forward from there."

Dell has been through so much. This was a big day for him and the entire team.

More is likely ahead of Dell after Noel suffered a turf toe injury. He could wind up filling his role.

“That’s special,” receiver Xavier Hutchinson said. “That’s the football gods looking out for Uno, and we’re all expecting many more for him.”

Dell doesn't want a snap count going forward. He wants to play full-time.

“I don’t know about increasing the snap count, I need to come all the way off of that,” Dell said. “I’m ready to roll.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL insider for KPRC 2 and Sports Talk 790. His YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AaronWilsonSport