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Titans’ Dupree optimistic about improvement, good health in 2022
TITANS ONLINE
Bud Dupree spent last offseason rehabbing his torn ACL while gearing up for his first season on a new team.
Following his initial season with the Titans, Dupree is looking forward to Year 2 in Tennessee, and finding ways to make even more of a splash.
“This (2021) season reminds me of my second year in the league, when I had a sports hernia and missed like 10 games,” Dupree said of his 2016 season with the Steelers. “Battling through stuff … you get through it and the next year you come back strong. I have to take this offseason and make sure everything is at its highest ability when I come in Day 1, there is no setbacks and nothing to get right and everything would be in a mode to turn up.”
After spending his first six NFL seasons with the Steelers, Dupree recorded 17 tackles, three sacks, 15 quarterback pressures and two tackles for a loss while playing in 11 games, with six starts, with the Titans in 2021, along with two tackles for a loss, a pass defensed and a forced fumble.
Dupree, who recorded 19.5 of his career 42.5 sacks in the two years before arriving in Nashville, said he felt better as the season went on during a year when he was slowed with the knee early, and later with an abdominal injury.
Dupree had surgery on the ACL in December of 2020 while in Pittsburgh.
“At the end of the (2021) season I started to feel good, but they always say after the ACL, that second season is when you start to feel all the way back,” Dupree said. “So, I am looking forward to that. But at the end of the day there is no excuses. Once you go on the field you have to get stuff done, fight through injuries, people go through that all the time. I will make sure (next) year I am as healthy as I’ve ever been and keep going.”
Dupree said he plans to train this offseason in Atlanta with pass rush specialist Chuck Smith and others to get ready for 2022.
He said he’s excited about the prospects of being able to focus more on his training than his rehab, although he knows some rehab work will continue to get himself right.
Dupree is also excited about his new home, in Nashville, with the Titans, and what’s next.
“You have to look at the positive side of things, and you just have to keep grinding,” Dupree said. “The city of Nashville is lit, I would definitely say that. I did not know anything about Nashville (before I got here).
“(And) the organization, there’s a lot of different things I didn’t know about. It’s a family family-oriented organization, and guys really look out for one another. The players are very close-knit, the guys are really looking to know one another outside of football, outside the building, which plays a big part when you are going to battle with your brothers on the field and that is always a plus.”
HEAR THE TITANS IN COFFEE COUNTY EXCLUSIVELY ON THUNDER RADIO – LISTED BY REALTOR CHARLIE GONZALES. 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM.
Birthdays- February 24
Scott Stephens
Abby Keith- Pizza Winner!
Health Department location in Manchester plans to close
Citing problems with staffing, the Coffee County Health Department building located on Parks St. will likely be closing by the end of March while operations consolidate to the health department location in Tullahoma (615 Wilson Ave.).
The full county commission will need to approve the move at its March meeting.
Authorities say the state is willing to provide money to build a larger, consolidated health department in the joint industrial park, but that will require the county to contribute about $1 million. Selling the two current locations in Tullahoma and Manchester could help offset the cost to the county.
Coffee County is one of 17 counties designated to receive state funding for a new health department.
Transparency in sentencing for victims act advances in TN
Legislation to improve sentencing transparency in Tennessee advanced out of the Tennessee House Criminal Justice Subcommittee last week.
House Bill 2657, also known as the Transparency in Sentencing for Victims Act, is designed to better inform crime victims and their families about the lengths of sentences offenders will serve when a sentence is announced by a judge or jury. It now moves to the House Criminal Justice Committee for additional discussion and debate.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, partnered with State Rep. Michael G. Curcio, R-Dickson, the co-prime sponsor of the bill. House Bill 2657 would require all Tennessee courts to place on the record — either orally or in writing — the estimated number of years and months served before a criminal is eligible for parole.
According to lawmakers, improving transparency in sentencing will ensure victims have accurate information about the individual who perpetrated a crime against them so they know whether that individual will serve their entire sentence — a certain number of years or 100 percent of the sentence handed down — or just a portion before they are eligible for parole.
More information about House Bill 2657 can be found here.
TN Dentists: Kids’ Oral Hygiene Helps Develop Healthy Habits
February marks National Children’s Dental Health Month and Tennessee health officials want to raise awareness about the importance of good oral hygiene in kids.
In collaboration with state Medicaid program TennCare, the Tennessee Department of Health offers sealants, a thin coating to protect teeth from cavities, in schools where 50% or more of the students receive free and reduced-price lunch.
Dr. Suzanne Hayes, interim state dental director of the Tennessee Department of Health, said there is a misconception among many parents baby teeth are not important because kids eventually lose them.
She said in the long-term, poor dental health can affect a child’s development.
“Those baby teeth actually hold the space so that those permanent teeth can come into proper alignment,” Hayes explained. “It certainly helps children eat, which is, as they’re growing, they need that nutritional value they can get. It affects speech, too.”
Hayes pointed out sealants can last for years and can result in an 80% reduction in tooth decay. The state health department has administered 61,000 sealants this year alone.
Hayes emphasized it is important for children to visit the dentist twice a year. She noted there are coverage opportunities for families who are uninsured or underinsured, such as TennCare and CoverKids, the state children’s health insurance program.
“We provide dental services based on a sliding-fee scale statewide,” Hayes explained. “So even without that coverage, we are more than willing to see any child, whether they have dental coverage or not. And then certainly TennCare and CoverKids are options as well that people should look into.”
According to a recent report from the Tennessee Justice Center, more than one million adults in the state have no access to dental coverage, and only about half of kids enrolled in its Medicaid program receive dental care.
Residents can find a list of dental offices and clinics statewide on the health department’s website.
H&R BLOCK STUDENT OF THE WEEK – Taley Hardin
Join us at Thunder Radio and Rosalyn Partin of the Manchester H&R Block and congratulate our student of the week – Taley Hardin
Taley is a 5th grader at New Union Elementary School. She was nominated by her teachers and administrators. Taley is the daughter of Tim Hardin and Kelley Hardin.
Her favorite subject is math. In her free time, Taley enjoys hunting, fishing and crafting. She also enjoys cheerleading and volleyball.
When she grows up, she would like to be a Marine Biologist.
All students of the week are selected for their work ethic and excellent attitudes in and out of the classroom.
Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block, has been inspired to recognize great kids in our community all year long. H&R Block gives each Student of the Week a commemorative plaque, a special letter of recognition and two tickets to Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park.
Job well done, Taley!
SCHOOL PATROL: Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022
SCHOOL PATROL – Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022
PRESENTED BY THE BREAD AND MILK EXPERTS AT SPRING STREET MARKET, 801 S. SPRING ST IN MANCHESTER.
*Coffee Co School System – TWO HOUR DELAY
Birthdays- February 23
Beth Penick
Ken Huddleston
Kitty Bowers- 78
Brylie Reynolds- 9- Pizza Winner!
Georgie Ann Reed
Mrs. Georgie Ann Reed, age 81, of Manchester, TN, passed from this life on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, in Murfreesboro, TN.
Mrs. Reed was born in Franklin Co, TN, to her late parents Charles Allen
Dean and Nancy Katherine Tuck Dean. In addition to her parents, she was
preceded in death by her husband, Bobby Joe Reed; sisters, Irene Uselton,
Audrey Boyuski, and Mary Steward; brothers, Daniel Dean and Willis Dean;
daughter-in-law, Darlene Reed.
Mrs. Reed is survived by sons, Timothy Reed, Allen (Andrea) Reed and Terry
(Melissa) Reed, all of Manchester; grandchildren, Casey, Curt, and Marie
(Sissy) Reed, Brandon and Austin Reed, Blake and Brantley Reed; great
grandchildren, Konnor Reed, Tinzlee Reed, Lydia and Legend Presnell, Josh
Grove, Nahla Myers, Kenzie Reed, and Levis Reed; five nieces.
Visitation with the family will be on Sunday, February 27, 2022, from
11:00am until 2:00pm at Central Funeral Home in Manchester, TN. Funeral
services will be conducted immediately following visitation at 2:00pm in
the chapel of Central Funeral Home with Paul Elam and Terence Hillsman
officiating. Burial will follow in Elam Cemetery in Coffee County.
Central Funeral Home is serving the family, 931-723-7774,
centralfuneralhome.com
Duane Sheffield
Duane Sheffield of Grovetown, GA passed this life on Saturday, February 19,
2022 at the age of 63. Services are scheduled on Saturday, February 26,
2022 at 2 PM at Daves-Culbertson Funeral Home with burial to follow at
Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 12 Noon until the
service time.
A native of Fayetteville, he was the son of the late Benjamin Harrison
Sheffield, Sr and the late Robbie Allen Sheffield. Duane never met a
stranger and was a very caring and giving person. He would always say “If
it ain’t right, I will make it right”. He would introduce himself to
people as the “O G”. He enjoyed dancing and shooting pool.
Mr. Sheffield is survived by his wife, Shirley Singleton-Sheffield of
Shelbyville; daughter, Angela Watkins (Shawn) of Shelbyville; brothers,
Chris Hill (Milly) of Nashville, Benjamin Sheffield Jr. of Tullahoma, Joe
Sheffield (Joy) of Murfreesboro, David Sheffield of Anchorage, Alaska and
Benji Chunn of Shelbyville; sisters, Vivian Gordon (Terry) of Toney, AL,
Faye Ray of Tullahoma and Ophelia Johnson of Grovetown, GA; aunts, Euralene
Sheffield of Tullahoma, Gracie Gregory(Jerry) of Fayetteville and Ella Rae
Wilkerson of Winchester; devoted friend, Brenda Williams of Augusta, GA;
five grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.
Online condolences may be made at www.davesculbertsonfuneralhome.com.
Daves-Culbertson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.