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Following the Steelers practice on Tuesday, three different players discussed their injury situations with various members of the Pittsburgh media. While all three injury situations are quite different, they all effect the Steelers game-day roster in New England on September 8th. It’s clear that Sean Davis may be the injury most Steelers’ fans would like an update about, but he did not address his situation on Tuesday. Instead, the players who gave updates were Bud Dupree, Joe Haden, and Benny Snell Jr.
Bud Dupree
Although he didn’t register any stats during his playing time in Week 3 of the preseason, Dupree was only a split second behind Stephon Tuitt or else he would have been responsible for the safety on Sunday night. During the second half of the game, Dupree was seen on the sidelines with an ice pack wrapped around his hand. In the post game press conference, Mike Tolmin stated that Dupree had a thumb injury of some sort, but it was unclear as to the extent of it at the time. On Tuesday, Dupree offered an explanation:
Bud Dupree says his thumb is not broken. it’s “just strained.” Said he’ll likely “put cast on it” for week one. Not sure if really means “cast” ...or brace. But will have something protective on it for the Patriots game.
— Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) August 27, 2019
Joe Haden
Of all the players who did not play this past Sunday, Joe Haden is the one who have been out the longest. Before the first preseason game, Steelers’ fans gasped as Haden took the cart from the field up to the locker room at St. Vincent College. Relieved when the injury ended up to only be an ankle contusion form being stepped on, the recovery time has still been extensive. At this point it is fairly certain Haden will not see any playing time in stadium until the regular season kicks off. Haden had this update on Tuesday:
Joe Haden returned to practice today after missing the past few weeks with an ankle injury. He said he’s in the 90s % range. When asked if he’d play if the Patriots game was this week he said “1,000%”
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) August 27, 2019
Benny Snell Jr.
When a rookie fails to make in on the field for a preseason game, it is always a much bigger deal than a veteran player. Although Snell and Diontae Johnson both participated in pregame activities on Sunday, Coach Tomlin and company made the decision to hold both of them out of action. Downplaying the significance of the injuries, Tomlin made the decision seem more like a practice time preparedness issue rather than not being cleared from injury. Snell addressed his health and readiness to play in Week 4:
Benny Snell was asked how healthy he is
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) August 27, 2019
“100 percent”
.
So, you’re ok with taking a heavy workload in Thursday’s game?
“With Benny Snell Football, you take a full workload every game.”
In all each of these cases, it appears all three players will be ready for the regular season. In fact, they all seem to think they would play if the regular season started tomorrow. Out of the three, Bud Dupree seems like his injury could still be enough of an issue to take the precaution of wrapping his hand, but it would not affect his ability to see the field. Otherwise, it appears that all three players are good to go.
Stay tuned to Behind The Steel Curtain for all the latest news, injury updates, and all things Steelers related.