Sep 4, 2016 3 min read

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Blame Ryan Scarpino.

Many of you don’t know who that is but he’s one of the Steelers’ excellent public relations people. He’s also the guy who sets up stories for the Game Day program with local media members on current and former players.

Each year in training camp, I typically do the first piece for the preseason opener. Last season, my first piece was due on Stephon Tuitt a week before the preseason opener.

Wouldn’t you know, the day I turned the story in, Tuitt sprained his ankle. The story was pulled – though we were able to use it later in the season.

With little time to write a new one, we decided a story on Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton would work instead. Bryant was soon suspended for the first four games of the season. So I again rewrote the story, this time making it all about Wheaton.

Why bring this up?

This year in training camp, Scarpino asked me to write a story about Bud Dupree. Within days, he was on the shelf.

That’s why I say, blame Ryan Scarpino (I jest).

The Steelers placed Dupree on injured reserve Sunday. It was something of a surprise but not completely. Mike Tomlin said Tuesday Dupree was getting an evaluation of the injury – described as a bruised groin – after trying to practice to no avail earlier in the week.

The evaluation showed it was a sports hernia. That’s the bad news.

Dupree will have surgery to repair the injury and the typical prognosis on that is the player being out around 6 weeks.

Arthur Moats and Jarvis Jones will hold things down in the meantime, but the breakout season the Steelers expected out of Dupree will have to wait.

The bigger issue, at least to me, is that Dupree also missed all of training camp.

He was a player, when I watched him in college, that seemed to struggle diagnosing plays. That feel for the game is something that’s only improved over time by playing. Dupree missed opportunities to improve on that in the preseason.

• The Steelers didn’t place injured cornerback Senquez Golson on injured reserve Sunday as expected.

Dupree’s injury could have played a part in that since they’d like to obviously save the injured reserve with a designation to return move on the linebacker.

But it also tells me the team thinks Golson will be back from his Lisfranc injury sooner than Dupree will return from his sports hernia.

• I liked the Steelers’ move to acquire Justin Gilbert from Cleveland Saturday for a 2018 sixth-round draft pick.

For next to nothing, the Steelers get a defensive back who was considered good enough to be a high draft pick in 2014. The Steelers liked him then and would have taken him over Ryan Shazier if he had been available. They also loved Odell Beckham that year.

Things didn’t work out for Gilbert in Cleveland, much like many of their other high draft picks. He had injuries and off-field issues – being late for meetings and such – that caused him to fall out of favor.

Perhaps the change of scenery – and coaches – will light a fire under Gilbert. If not, the Steelers only invested a late draft pick in 2018.