Dupree 'On Schedule' to Return From Knee Surgery

No one with the Tennessee Titans will say for sure when they expect the free-agent linebacker to be cleared, but he is optimistic about the 2021 NFL season.

NASHVILLE -- It is one of the most eagerly anticipated days of the Tennessee Titans’ 2021 season.

Of course, few actually know when it is, and those who do won’t say. It is the day linebacker Bud Dupree is cleared for full participation and can lend his considerable pass rush skills – and more – to the Titans’ defense.

It has not arrived yet, but there is no indication that it is a moving target. The good news for the franchise is that it seems that it is not far off.

“I’m recovering well. I’m on schedule,” Dupree said Tuesday. “As far as when they’ll let me practice and stuff, I really wouldn’t know. It’s up to them to decide how they want to do [it] or how they want to go forth with it. But on my end, I’m doing pretty good and I’m just taking it day by day.

“I’m just excited for the season ahead.”

Dupree is on the mend from reconstructive surgery to address a knee injury that ended his 2020 season after 11 games. That means he is unable to take part in on-field activities during this week’s mandatory minicamp, but he is in town, taking part in meetings and continuing his rehab under the watch of the team’s medical personnel.

The procedure was performed in early December, which means he is now roughly seven months removed from it.

Two years ago, the Titans got defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons back nine months after a comparable surgery. Every player is different, and every recovery has its challenges but, for Dupree, the start of the 2021 regular season will be approximately 10 months after his knee was fixed.

It is possible, therefore, that he will be available for some or all of training camp and the preseason.

“(Dupree) is a professional,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “He communicates well. He communicates with [Director of Sports Medicine] Todd [Toriscelli] about where he’s at with his rehab and his therapist, and then when he’s here he communicates with me. That’s been the biggest thing that we’ve asked these guys to do, is to communicate.

“Now, working here with the group, he’s been engaged in meetings, he’s working hard and doing everything we’ve asked him to do.”

The question is whether Dupree will be healthy enough to do what they signed him to do.

The Titans added Dupree with one of the offseason’s biggest free-agent contracts – five years, $82.5 million – with the idea that he would improve a pass rush that registered just 19 sacks in 2020. It was the third lowest total in the league and the fewest by a Tennessee team during the Titans era (1999-present).

Before he was hurt, he registered eight sacks and was on pace to equal or succeed his career-high of 11 and a half, which he set in 2020. It has been 11 years since the Titans had a player produce 11 or more sacks in a season and Dupree nearly did it in back-to-back years.

“It’s a team effort, but I’m a big part of that,” he said. “Pressure bursts pipes, or pressure creates a diamond. … It’s no secret. They got me here for that, to help out with the pass rush. I put it on my shoulder, and I wear that hat while I’m working out in the offseason, while I’m rehabbing right now getting my knee right.

“… I just have to go out there and continue to produce and produce like I have. The bigger part of that is not just me producing but bringing someone else along to produce as well. Once you’re doing that, it’s all working.”