Inner tie rod boot

I will have to take another picture but on the 2002 ford escape v6 3.0l 4x4 on the front drivers side inner tie rod end boot. There is a rubber nub that sticks out of the back off it facing the engine. When i pulled the boot off, this rod came with it attached to the boot. The whole it feeds into is to dark and to small to tell where it is attached to.