- 33 minutes ago
Tank Dell has been cleared for practice and the Texans have a 21-day window to decide on his return. When might we see him? Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast discuss it.
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00:00I think the audience is curious about Tank Dell.
00:02I'm curious about Tank Dell.
00:03I'm curious about Tank Dell, too.
00:05Because you know what?
00:05We will have an answer within the next three weeks.
00:0921 days.
00:10We will finally get some version of clarity on Tank Dell.
00:13I think there's kind of a whiplash thing going on with Tank Dell
00:17because we've been teased him so many times before.
00:21I've been guilty of it.
00:23I've been spitting out the propaganda.
00:25I saw him out there in training camp.
00:27Here we go, everybody.
00:28I blame me.
00:29Take it from old Sethers.
00:31I blame me for you taking the propaganda because of the two of us,
00:34I'm the most easily sold to.
00:36And I feel like sometimes I rub off on you, maybe.
00:38He looked good out there at training camp.
00:40He looked really quick.
00:41He looked like a little water bug dancing over the turf.
00:45He did.
00:45He did.
00:46The question will be when he gets out there where the slight fraction,
00:50if he's lost any of his juice, which he, like, look,
00:52it's more likely that he has lost some of his juice.
00:54Nick Casario told us the thing holding him back was his top end speed.
00:57Right.
00:57Yeah.
00:58Right.
00:58And so we don't know where that is.
01:01Look, they could be opening his practice window as sort of a Hail Mary.
01:04Like, all right, let's see what we got.
01:05That kind of thing.
01:06Like, anything is possible to me right now with Tank Dell.
01:08So for those of you who don't know, the practice window is 21 days.
01:12And within that 21 days or at the end of it,
01:14they can either choose to elevate him to the roster off of an injured reserve
01:18or he's done for the year.
01:20Yes.
01:20So this next three weeks will determine Tank Dell's fate for 2026.
01:26Correct.
01:27Correct.
01:27And that, were you expecting to get tank news yesterday?
01:31Well, no, because I'd heard from somebody that, no, I was not.
01:34I was not expecting to get tank news.
01:35Oh, that's right.
01:35Because there were reports out there that it wasn't going so hot.
01:37Yeah, there was, there, yeah.
01:40There wasn't going so hot.
01:41Right.
01:41And it turns out.
01:42Well, Aaron Wilson had said on his live stream that it wasn't going to be
01:45any time soon.
01:46Yeah, he may have gotten that one wrong.
01:47Yeah.
01:47Yeah.
01:48So, so this was, this is buried 15 questions into D'Amico's press conference
01:54yesterday because I wasn't expecting it either.
01:58And the question wasn't even about Tank.
02:01I think it was about Caden McDonald.
02:02And because the Texans have several players they can bring back off of IR this
02:07week if they want to, they've played four games.
02:09That's the requisite number of games you need to spend on injured reserve before
02:14you can be brought back to the active roster.
02:16So I, if I'm, if I'm not mistaken, the question, it was about either Braden
02:20Smith or Caden McDonald, D'Amico, here was D'Amico's answer when he was asked
02:23about somebody not named Tank Dell.
02:25Will so-and-so, I think Caden McDonald be back at practice this week.
02:29Yeah, this week we expect to open a window for, for Tank Dell, for Braden
02:34Smith, and for Caden McDonald.
02:35Whoa!
02:36Yeah.
02:36And I'm watching that.
02:38Whoa.
02:38That was very casual for a guy that we've been, for a guy that's been, A,
02:42impactful for you, B, out since December 21st, 2024.
02:48Right.
02:48Almost two years.
02:50And C, we've just, we've, I feel like we've, not to the degree Tank has,
02:54obviously, but as, from a fan perspective, really lived these ups and downs
02:58with Tank.
02:58Yeah, and now, when I say we all have clarity on him, or we'll get an answer
03:02at least, I mean, there's still, look, he could be practicing for three weeks,
03:07they could decide to elevate him, and then he still might not be active.
03:11Right.
03:12So, but in these three weeks, they're going to figure out whether it's worth the
03:15roll of the dice to bring him back.
03:16So, yes, theoretically, it's possible that you could see him in the Titans game.
03:20I think that's very unlikely.
03:22That they're probably going to.
03:23Oh, yeah, I say no chance of that.
03:24It's almost like wrapping a pitcher back up.
03:26As cautious as they've been with him.
03:30So, if he doesn't play in the Titans game, I don't think there's a chance in hell
03:33that they send him overseas and on a trip to London that he plays first.
03:38Totally agree.
03:39I might be wrong.
03:39Totally agree.
03:39I think the earliest we would see him, knowing that 21 days, look, there's a set time
03:44they would need to make a determination on putting him on the roster.
03:47If he were to, if it turns out he practices and he's good enough to play in an NFL football
03:54game, my guess is we would see him after the bye week against the Chargers.
03:58Because here's the way the schedule lays out.
04:00They've got the Titans in Nashville this weekend.
04:02They've got the London game in week six.
04:04We're in week five now.
04:05London game in week six.
04:06Giants back here in week seven.
04:08Then the bye week.
04:09I could very well see them taking advantage of the schedule and saying, oh, you know,
04:14the bye week lays out in a way where we get one more.
04:16He'd be inactive maybe for the Giants game because I think he might have to be elevated
04:19by then.
04:20I'm not totally sure.
04:21I didn't look that close.
04:21But if I had to, if I had to harbor a guess, it's going to be one of two things.
04:26Either Tank is coming back for the Chargers game or he's done for the season.
04:29Yeah.
04:29And you know what though, in terms of just, okay, how quickly, when isn't everything, you
04:35do have to remember that, okay, at some point they're just, they're this team that doesn't
04:42have that many wide receivers on the roster and they've got a bunch of tight ends that
04:46they don't actually use all that much, that maybe in their minds that he's really, he's
04:52very, very good.
04:53And he's been very healthy these last few weeks.
04:55And that if they get a week of practice in him, maybe they'd, maybe they'd feel okay with
04:59him in the one.
05:00I'm just looking at the way they've handled him in the sum total of things.
05:04Remember though, during training camp, we thought, boy, I don't know, maybe by the
05:07end of the season, he'll be out there in, or by the end of training camp, he'll be out
05:10there in 11 on 11 practice.
05:11And he actually got out there a lot faster than we expected.
05:14For like five snaps.
05:16Right.
05:16No, but I mean, he was catching passes in 11 on 11 and like, and then they pulled him
05:21back.
05:21Yeah.
05:21Yeah.
05:22Yeah.
05:22I'm just saying like, it feels like they've been super cautious with him, but I mean,
05:25it's, this is it.
05:26The ramp is here.
05:27So if you're somebody who's like, yeah, you're all in four, we all know the statistical
05:31probability of making the playoffs when you're Owen for tanks been ready to go.
05:36You get the sense that tanks wanted to be out there since December of last year.
05:39A hundred percent.
05:40So he's posting all these videos and everything.
05:42Yeah.
05:42You'd love to think that, okay, they're going to be as cautious as possible and everything.
05:46But look, Tank wants to be part of the, the, the big push.
05:49Oh, you know, the, the, the miraculous return to glory.
05:52Yes.
05:53He wants, who wouldn't want to be part of this return to glory that is impending.
05:57They've got a realistic chance.
05:59It's loading.
05:59Look, return to glory.
06:01You guys are looking at a team that realistically, after this next four game stretch could, could
06:07definitely be two and six.
06:09Okay.
06:10At the very least.
06:11Oh yeah.
06:11Three and three and seven is very attainable.
06:14We're setting, we're setting up, we're setting up for this year's nine game winning streak.
06:19Three and five is very attainable.
06:21Three and five is what they were last year.
06:22The Jaguars game is the big one right now.
06:24Like of the next four games, three are very, very winnable.
06:26You're going to have a tough, uh, it's, it's a tough ask right now to, to, to get a lot
06:30of belief in that Jaguars.
06:31Well, and the Jags and look, the, it looks like the Avenue to the playoff, you know, like
06:35if the Avenue to the playoffs is a division, which last year was a wild card.
06:39So who knows that that Jags game is important for a number of reasons, but you can't look
06:43past the Titans, Seth cannot look past the Titans are a better defensive, way better defensive
06:48football team than the one you played this weekend.
06:50You know, as, as I'm getting all hot and bothered over CJ having another 300 yard passing game.
06:55Um, that was against a bad defensive team this past weekend, the Titans, you know, and they
07:00don't match up very, you don't match up great with them with Jeffrey Simmons up there.
07:04Oh, that's right.
07:05Another defensive tackle.
07:06Who's really good.
07:07Yeah.
07:08Yeah.
07:09Yeah.
07:09So, um, so it's, uh, of all the things that, uh, could really test this offensive line and
07:16how bad they've been on the interior over the last couple of years.
07:19Uh, it's been an onslaught of five straight games with stud defensive tackle.
07:23Yeah.
07:24Yeah.
07:24And we knew it was coming.
07:25We knew it was coming real quick, just to put a bow on the, the, the, uh, practice,
07:30the injured reserve guys coming back to practice.
07:32Here was D'Amico.
07:33Um, how does, how does that evaluation go with these guys?
07:36Well, once you open that 21 day window, you have to see how guys respond to practices.
07:40It'll be the first time that all those guys are back out practicing.
07:43So we see, you know, how they respond, how their week goes, and then we'll see, you know,
07:48what happens on Sunday.
07:49Okay.
07:49So tank is almost in a separate category just as how you, because of how unique his situation
07:53is.
07:54Brayden Smith and Caden McDonald are a little more conventional.
07:57Brayden Smith had a foot issue.
07:59Caden McDonald, I think was an ankle, if I'm not mistaken.
08:02Um, what, okay.
08:03They they're coming back to practice.
08:05I expect that they're going to be, they'll, I they'll, at some point in this 21 day window
08:09be on the roster again.
08:10Tank, I'm not sure.
08:12What do you expect as far as the fit for either of these guys, especially Brayden Smith, where
08:16it feels like right tackle is a spot where they can make a change.
08:19Well, I think with, with Brayden Smith, especially like we've seen this team struggles to run the
08:23ball up the middle, even though they desperately, desperately want to, they want daddy's approval.
08:28They love doing it.
08:29You get the sense that Nick Caley's dad is like some old, like, uh, like he's a Marine that
08:33like every day growing up, Nick Caley, his dad would sit there with a cup of coffee and
08:39be like, if you can't run up the middle, you're a, you're a, you're a wimp.
08:43Chewing on a cigar, not even smoking a cigar, chewing on a cigar.
08:46He would have used different verbiage.
08:47Uh, you know, the seventies were different.
08:49Stay FCC.
08:50If you're a, listen, I'm kidding.
08:52Mamby Pamby, kid of mine that can't run up the middle and Nick Caley's there on the
08:56sideline.
08:56He's like, Oh my God.
08:57He, I don't want to hear it from dad when I get home.
08:59Yep.
09:00Listen, sometimes you got to grow, evolve.
09:02It's 2026, man.
09:03You're allowed to run outside.
09:05It's a newfangled outside zone.
09:06They've got.
09:07Oh dude.
09:07Yeah.
09:07Nick Caley calling an end around.
09:09He's like, Oh, my dad is going to kill me.
09:12What'd you join the air force?
09:13Yeah.
09:14Hooking lateral.
09:15Yeah.
09:16What is this?
09:17No, but like just run an outside zone.
09:20Yeah.
09:20Um, and some of those things like that, like Braden Smith is probably better at it.
09:24And, uh, it's a point in his career than, than tanked, uh, than Trent Brown is.
09:28Yeah.
09:28Yeah.
09:29What about Caden McDonald?
09:30Um, what are you hoping to see out of him?
09:32So Caden McDonald was last we saw him when he was healthy.
09:35He was very much a work in progress.
09:37Um, I think his dream of being a first team all pro this year is probably not likely.
09:43Well, only cause he missed games.
09:44He can still play at that level the last 13 games.
09:47Not really showing any flash of pass rush ability.
09:50I know he got a sack in the preseason, everybody.
09:51Forgot about that part.
09:52Um, he has a big body and there's one thing that this is, I had a conversation with somebody
09:58about this yesterday is that, you know, they said, boy, the defensive tackles are kind
10:01of getting knocked around a little bit.
10:02Um, that's, that's not uncommon.
10:05Like even when the Texans are playing good run defense, their defensive tackles a lot
10:09of times, cause they've got them just hitting upfield.
10:11Sometimes you get bounced around a bit, but, but when the Texans linebackers are playing
10:16really well, they play off of that and they end up being a much better run defense than
10:20it ever feels like.
10:21Um, they don't have those linebackers right now.
10:23Sean, I don't know if you realize that.
10:25I don't know if you heard you talking about it on the pregame.
10:28Yeah.
10:29Yeah.
10:29That is, that I was hosting that when Aziz Elshire, the guy that D'Amico Ryans basically
10:34calls the heart and the soul of the defense isn't on the field.
10:37And when Henry Toa Toa and EJ Speed aren't there, yeah, they're not as good at that type
10:41of stuff.
10:42No.
10:42And you saw it down on the goal line.
10:44So Cade McDonald, the very least in short yardage situations, um, and in goal line situations,
10:50he's a big body and we'll see.
10:52I mean, he was just, he was adapting to the speed of NFL offensive linemen and the speed
10:57of the game.
10:58And maybe, maybe that kind of clicks for him.
11:01As long as we're talking about mysterious injuries and strange roads back and missing the entire
11:052025 season, we just got done talking about Tank Dell.
11:07I found it Seth dramatically appropriate that Joe Mixon is back in the NFL as of yesterday.
11:14So on the same day we get news of a Tank Dell return to practice, we get news of a
11:19Joe Mixon
11:19return to not an NFL 53 man roster yet, but Seattle, the quality control coach, the Seattle
11:27Seahawks who just had to put you dairy in price on IR have signed Joe Mixon to their practice
11:33Seahawks have been having some of the same issues that the Texans have of, uh, not running
11:37well on first down and all of that.
11:39They've got a new, new offensive coordinator, Clint Kubiak, Clint Kubiak, who might be the
11:43new wonder boy of the NFL, um, is gone.
11:46And so we'll see what Joe Mixon, this is the, this is like the Nick Chubb signing to
11:50the Texans.
11:51Uh, yeah, well, last year, but even more mysterious because of the nature of Mixon's
11:56Chubb, you knew what the injury was.
11:58Chubb, you knew the deal.
11:59Well, Mixon, I don't think people thought, I didn't think Mixon was ever going to play
12:03again.
12:03Texans cut him in March with one year left on his deal.
12:06And he's just been sitting out there on the open market and Seattle obviously put him
12:11through a physical and they think he's ready to at least play on a practice squad.
12:15You know what?
12:15I mean, you know, I'm kind of pissed at Joe Mixon.
12:18Why are you pissed at Joe Mixon?
12:19I just, because, all right, he asked for his release.
12:23Yeah.
12:23The Texans traded for David Montgomery.
12:25Um, all right, like, okay, at that point I figured Joe Mixon must be completely done.
12:30Yeah.
12:30Uh, stick around a little while, man.
12:33He paid you $8 million.
12:35Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:36And I know I'm not blaming him for the injury or anything.
12:39Right.
12:39But now here he is.
12:40I won't be pissed at him genuinely unless he actually performs really well.
12:44Uh, yeah.
12:46He's definitely pissed off.
12:47You know, the Texans said, hey, we've got a chance of getting a guy to come in here and
12:50give us 2.7 yards per carry.
12:52You've got to take that deal.
12:53Oh, absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
12:55You've got to.
12:56Do you think the Mixon we saw in 2024 would be doing anything behind this offensive line
12:59right now?
13:00I don't think anybody would.
13:01Yeah.
13:02I don't think a rental James Simpson would do a damn thing with this offensive line,
13:06except maybe put them out of their misery.
13:07You know?
13:08I think the truth be told.
13:11Mm-hmm.
13:11Oh, yeah, he would not stand for this.
13:13These guys would be playing a lot harder than they actually are.
13:16OJ would not.
13:17You see one OJ Simpson.
13:19Maybe that's, that is, that is not joyful intensity.
13:22That's a flying retreat to Brentwood.
13:23OJ Simpson, not joyful intensity.
13:26That's just intense intensity.
13:28This was the update.
13:29This is back from right around Super Bowl time.
13:32The, Nick Casario did a press conference right before the Super Bowl with the Houston
13:37media.
13:37The last time we heard about Joe Mixon surrounding a football season was at the end of 2025.
13:44This was the update on Joe Mixon from Casario just a couple of months before he ended up
13:50getting released by the Texans.
13:51So as it pertains to Joe, here's what I would say.
13:53It was a very unique situation.
13:56I don't think anybody really had any clarity, honestly, from the start of the year until
14:00now.
14:00I'd say Joe worked very, very hard to try to get himself ready to play football.
14:05It just never manifests itself and came to fruition.
14:07So probably have an opportunity to kind of see where he is in the off season relative
14:12to next year.
14:13But again, it was very, it was as unique a situation and injury as I've been associated
14:19with.
14:19And it's just, I don't want to call it a freak thing, but it's just kind of a freak thing.
14:23And Joe worked really hard, you know, gave it, put his best foot forward.
14:27It just, it didn't work out.
14:29Sorry, I'm distracted.
14:30On TV in Tarragona, Spain, the world's largest human tower contest is being shown right
14:36now.
14:36Is Joe Mixon participating?
14:37I don't think he could climb like these kids are climbing.
14:40These kids are scaling a tower of other people.
14:43Not with a unique situation such as Joe's.
14:47And Nick would go on to clarify, we don't have time for the audio, but like he wasn't
14:52skydiving.
14:52He wasn't cliff diving.
14:54He got, it was hurt in a conventional football manner.
14:56I was, since we're in this realm of Joe Mixon being injured with a very unique injury
15:03and the Texans trading for David Montgomery and throwing juices.
15:06Joe's Scruggs in is a kind of like, yeah, good luck in green.
15:09Joe's Scruggs is playing well.
15:10Well, I just wanted to check his PFF grades, which I, you know, take with a grain of salt.
15:14But let's see, currently, let's see if I'm going to carry this seven.
15:18Yeah.
15:18Minus three.
15:20He's graded first among 33 NFL centers.
15:23Juice Scruggs is?
15:23Yeah.
15:24Yeah.
15:25That's an interesting topic.
15:27And we, you know what?
15:29Okay.
15:30Save that.
15:30Save that.
15:31Save that.
15:33What the hell's going on over there?
15:34Well, it's, it is something like that.
15:36I mean, that's extreme.
15:37Something like that is, is interesting.
15:39Okay.
15:39I'll put a pin, put a pin in that.
15:41You don't even know what to do with yourself.
15:42Put a pin in that.
15:43Can you imagine what O.J. Simpson could do behind Juice Scruggs?
15:46Oh, my God.
15:48Man.
15:48In a dome?
15:50Oh, yeah.
15:50Not even playing out in the snow.
15:51You know, O.J. had to do, O.J., one of the many trials and tribulations he went through
15:54was he had to run in the snow.
15:56Buffalo.
15:56Yeah.
15:57Doing him in a dome down here.
15:58Oh, my God.
15:59Yep.
16:00Yep.
16:01Okay.
16:02There's a dome joke in there that writes itself.
16:04But, uh, okay.