Tennessee Titans looking for 'the best Bud Dupree' after Harold Landry's injury | Estes

The worst can happen. An elite NFL edge rusher – even one freshly ordained by a huge contract – can still be waylaid by a serious knee injury.

If anyone understands what Harold Landry is facing, it’s Tennessee Titans teammate Bud Dupree.

“Really and truly, man, it’s a whole life lesson,” Dupree said. “Not just for football but in life in general – family, yourself, your mental state as a human person. Sometimes you have days where you’re like you want to give up. Sometimes you have days, ‘Is it still going to be the same?’

“But you’ve just got to fight through and get to the end of the tunnel.”

Dupree feels like he’s finally through that tunnel, finally fully recovered from an ACL tear in December 2020 that hampered his first season with the Titans.

Not a moment too soon, it would appear, given last week’s ACL tear in practice for Landry. It was a ghastly injury, horribly timed, robbing the Titans of one of its best – and highest-paid – defensive players before even reaching Week 1.

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No exaggeration: Such misfortune has the potential to spoil a season. It's not just because of Landry's importance. It's more that as the Titans enter the season opener Sunday (3:25 p.m., FOX) against the New York Giants, they are roundly expected to be led by their defense, a reversal from last year's preseason.

As formidable as the Titans’ offense was supposed to be in 2021, the defense ended up the stronger unit. Much of that had to do with Landry, who posted 12 sacks and the best season of his career.

“A guy like Harold with the production he’s had, the durability he’s had, it’s going to be hard to replicate that,” safety Kevin Byard said.

And so the burden shifts to the defense’s highest-paid healthy player: Dupree.

If this wasn’t the case before Landry’s injury, it's Dupree's moment. It's time for him to step up as a force for the Titans, worthy of the $82.5 million free-agent deal he received prior to last season.

Listening to Dupree now, he sounds convincing, worthy of the benefit of the doubt. When he says, “I’m definitely going to be the best Bud Dupree,” it means something. Because he was so honest and forthcoming about his struggles last season, you believe him now when he says he has passed all that.

We’ve seen Dupree’s best before, only it was with the Pittsburgh Steelers. We haven’t yet seen it in a Titans uniform.

Dupree played in 11 games in 2021, recording three sacks and eight quarterback hits, helping a vastly improved pass rush. But he wasn’t 100%.

He wasn’t healthy when he signed with the Titans. Expectations that accompanied that expensive contract, Dupree said, prompted him to put pressure on himself to return earlier than he should have. And that caused a setback with his knee.

“All of it. New team. New city. Contract,” said Dupree, looking back. “Guys want to make sure they come in and dominate for the team’s sake.”

It wasn’t until this past summer, Dupree said, that he felt like himself on the field again. For the first time, he was trusting the knee, feeling like he had all his strength back.

In his words, it has been "way better" this preseason. Teammates have noticed.

“You can ask anybody in our room, talking about Bud, when you turn on that tape, the first thing I look at is the explosion and his get-off,” said Titans edge rusher Rashad Weaver. “… You look at him having tackles beat after their second and third step with that speed.

“He’s looking good. He’s looking like he’s ready, best that I can see.”

The Titans certainly hope so.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes. 

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Minus Harold Landry, Bud Dupree ready to step up for Tennessee Titans