Pittsburgh Steelers injury news: Dupree's return still unkown

Despite all their success so far in the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still a few pieces short of a complete squad, with Bud Dupree as one of the biggest names missing.

The outside linebacker was struggling to move. He had intense pain around the groin area last July, which was later announced as a sports hernia injury.

Under intense pain, the injury required surgery and Dupree went under the knife in Philadelphia as performed by Dr. William Meyers.

Dupree has made strides in his recovery, already cleared and lifting weights to help him get back on track but his complete timetable is still unknown to the public.

On the injured reserve list, the 2015 first round draft pick does not know exactly when he can return, but Dupree hopes that he can make it back this season.

Dupree told reporters, "I know I'll be back, probably late though."

In the National Football League, each team is only allowed to put one player on the injured reserve. This means that Dupree has to be out for at least eight weeks before returning to the active roster. This is what Dupree is eyeing at the moment.

Following the Steelers' last game, a win over the Kansas City Chiefs, Dupree gave a little more insight on how he has been doing.

Talking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dupree admitted that recovery is different from one person to the other, and it took a while for him to be able to get back on his own two feet.

He said, "It's different for everyone. I had surgery on both sides. I can walk around and move in every-day life now. My first two weeks after surgery I couldn't move like that, especially the first week I had to have people with me all the time. Now I can depend on myself."

At the moment, the Steelers are leading the AFC North with a 3-1 record and are hoping that they can continue their rise despite missing out on Dupree.