HOUSTON – Tank Dell endured a quiet day in Green Bay as he was shut out on the stat sheet against the Packers.
It was a bit surprising considering that the Texans’ explosive second-year wide receiver was expected to see his role expand with star receiver Nico Collins on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
That isn’t what unfolded, though, during the Texans’ 24-22 road loss at Lambeau Field.
Dell dropped a potential touchdown pass in the first quarter as the football skipped off his hands in the end zone on an accurate pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud, his good friend.
Dell was underthrown on a short pass in the second quarter and third quarter with pressure contributing to the third incompletion as Stroud was under heavy duress and wound up being sacked four times and hit seven times overall as he passed for a career-low 86 yards on 10 of 21 passing with 55 net yards due to sacks.
The Texans went to Dell one more time in a critical situation before kicking a go-ahead field goal for a short-lived lead before the Packers iced the game with a last-second Brandon McManus field goal.
On this sideline throw on 3rd-and-15, Stroud tried to squeeze it into Dell and he caught it out of bounds. It was short of the sticks anyway. The only wide receivers to catch passes for the Texans on Sunday were Stefon Diggs: five catches for 23 yards and Xavier Hutchinson one catch for 11 yards.
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Dell has 20 receptions for 194 yards and one touchdown for the 5-2 Texans, missing one game with badly bruised ribs suffered against the Minnesota Vikings. Dell is on pace for 49 catches for 471 yards and two scores.
“With Tank, he just has to keep going,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I believe in Tank, believe he’ll be able to make some big-time explosive plays for us. He just has to keep going and he will do that. I have all the faith in Tank.”
Dell is averaging 9.7 yards per catch with a long reception of 23 yards and 11 first downs. Dell was more of a deep threat as a rookie when he caught 47 passes for 709 yards and a franchise rookie receiving record of seven touchdowns as he averaged 15.1 yards per catch before breaking his fibula 11 games into the season.
“I think it is very important,” Stroud said of the need to get Dell the football more. “We have to find a way to try and get him the rock early and often and then go from there. It has to be a focus for us, not only just him, but the whole offense clicking early. That is really my job, to get the ball out on time and to where it is supposed to go. So, yeah, that definitely has to be fixed.”
“I think it is very important,” Stroud said when asked how important he felt it was to get Dell involved. “We have to find a way to try and get him the rock early and often and then go from there. It has to be a focus for us, not only just him but the whole offense clicking early. That is really my job to get the ball out on time and to where it is supposed to go. So yeah, that definitely has to be fixed.”
Dell’s role has been reduced a bit with so many of the targets distributed to Collins, who caught 32 passes for 567 yards and three scores before the injury as well as Diggs, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who leads the Texans with 42 receptions for 415 yards and three touchdowns. There’s less of a workload for Dell right now in offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik’s playbook.
“I would say just him being himself, our team owning our identity and really just playing what we see,” Stroud said earlier this month. “I think last year was last year. Even though I think he did really great last year, I know he wants to move on from that and do well this year. And he’s very motivated. We’re motivated to get him rolling, too. So, it’s part of my job to get him the ball and to make sure that he gets his fair amount of targets just like everybody else. But, no, that’s definitely a key component to this game is getting Tank Dell going because I think he’s one of the best receivers in this league.”
Dell is remaining patient as he carries out his assignments in offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik’s offense.
“It’s just go out and try to make the plays that come to me,” Dell said. “Bobby is going to dial it up and call what he needs to call to win the game.”
Photo: Stephen Maturen / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
Dell adds an element of speed to the Texans’ offense. He’s proven he’s capable of making impactful plays.
“Tank is fast,” Slowik said. “There are people that you say are fast, but Tank is a different level of speed that you feel on the field. Nico has a GPS that other people rarely, if ever hit. Without a doubt, Nico is fast. It just feels different when it is Tank, something about his stride, his turnover that gets on DB’s very quickly. When you run the route the way he runs it and get in and out of breaks the way he can get in and out of breaks and how fast he comes out of them, that just becomes to really hard to cover really fast.
“The more we can help isolate him when needed and in particular, when teams are taking away Nico, when teams are taking away Stef or worried about other matchups on Dalton [Schultz]. It is just a great way for us to isolate a one-on-one that we have supreme confidence in.”
Aaron Wilson is a contributor to Sports Talk 790.