ARLINGTON – Nico Collins had waited patiently for this moment, biding his time until he could do what he loves again.
That time arrived Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys when the Texans’ star wide receiver returned to play after missing five games with a hamstring pull suffered against the Buffalo Bills on a touchdown catch.
From the first play of scrimmage, Collins served notice about his health and his rare explosiveness.
During a 34-10 blowout victory of the Dallas Cowboys, Collins caught a screen pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud, adeptly found space behind the interference his offensive line ran for him against pursuit and was off to the races. Collins’ acceleration was incredible on a 77-yard touchdown catch-and-run, silencing the Cowboys’ fans at AT&T Stadium as a large contingent of traveling Texans fans erupted in celebration.
Unfortunately, a yellow flag littered the field. Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil was ruled to be an ineligible receiver downfield with officials penalizing him and wiping out Collins’ touchdown. After the game, Tunsil insisted he wasn’t guilty of the infraction. Nonetheless, Collins’ speed and moves were on full display.
Inside the Texans’ victorious locker room, Collins emphasized this is just the start. As the NFL receiving yardage leader at the time of his injury, Collins was on pace for 100 catches and 2,000 yards. He’s determined to get back to that kind of stellar production.
“It’s the intro,” Collins said.
The play had been plotted well, drawn up ideally by offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. And Collins did his job, smoothly waiting for the blocking to be set up in front of him before taking off at a high speed.
“How did it look?” Collins said. “It felt good. It didn’t count, but it is what it is. Being back out there with the guys, and getting this win on the road is the most important thing. Being back out there with the guys, having fun, I missed them. I feel like suiting up having fun is the most important thing.
“We kind of knew what it was. First play, gotta go out with a bang. That’s what happened, but it got called back. Sick about it, but it is what it is.”
Collins finished the game with four receptions for 54 yards on seven targets, including a 33-yard reception, as he matched approximately the production of fellow wide receiver Tank Dell.
“Everyone instantly sees the impact of Nico,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Our first offensive play goes for a touchdown, right? It gets called back, but you see his impact instantly. He’s a game-changer and we’re so thankful to have him back and see what he provides to our entire team.”
This marked a season-low in terms of yardage for Collins as his season was interrupted by the right leg injury suffered against the Bills on a 67-yard touchdown.
Now, the Texans have a 6-foot-4, 222-pound dangerous deep threat with 4.44 speed in the 40-yard dash back in the lineup.
“You know, play one he gets the ball in his hands and he makes special things happen,” Stroud said. “He continues to just show up and show out. His attitude while he was hurt was amazing. He wasn’t butt-hurt. He wasn’t looking down. Of course he was upset that he was hurt and wasn’t playing, but he was still around the guys and still was showing love.”
Collins leads the Texans with 621 receiving yards and has 36 catches and three touchdowns with an average of 17.3 yards per catch.
The Texans managed Collins’ workload in his first game back as a precautionary measure. He played 30 snaps overall for 47 percent participation.
“We’re excited to get Nico back,” Ryans said. “Really love the plan that he had, and he showed up and make an impact play for us the first play of the game, right? So, I’m happy to have him back, I thought our guys did a good job of managing him, giving him the proper snaps that he needed, and, you know, it’s his first week back. He’s not going to have a full workload on his first week back.”
Collins’ new season-long projection is for 56 catches, 960 yards and five touchdowns.
The most important thing, though, is having their best wide receiver back for the stretch run of the season and a likely playoff appearance for the AFC South leaders.
The Texans finished with their second-highest scoring total of the season behind their 41-point outburst Oct. 13 against the New England Patriots.
“We’ve got no choice but to build and continue to grow,” Collins said. “Especially to get to where we want to go, it’s time to be locked in on the film and just improvement every week. We’ve kind of been struggling after the half. It was a different energy and mindset.”
And Collins supplied plenty of those attributes to an offense that missed him and that he had been missing being a part of as he rejoined the Texans’ offensive huddle.
“Enthusiasm, energy, playmaking ability and just having fun with the guys,” Collins said. “I feel like that’s the most important part. Not losing your mind and not losing track of how gifted we are to play this game.
“Just having fun, I feel that’s the main thing to me. Being out there suiting up, it’s no better feeling. Throwing on your helmet, suiting up in armor. I’m just grateful for that.”
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Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 click2houston.com.
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