PITTSBURGH —Shortly after his first outing with the Pittsburgh Steelers , Kyle Dugger received a game ball. While he didn't stuff the box score with more than four total tackles, his effort to get onto the field was a large part of what earned him the keepsake.
"I'm not really big on that kind of stuff," said Dugger, who started at strong safety in his team's 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, three days after his first practice with Mike Tomlin's team. "I definitely appreciate the recognition (from) my coach. … The win was easily the most important thing, and so I was just glad to be a part of that."
The Steelers' defensive unit was without starter DeShon Elliott , who'd badly hyperextended his knee last week against the Green Bay Packers . Chuck Clark was out sick, and Jabrill Peppers , a current and former teammate of Dugger's, was inactive with an injury of his own.
Dugger played in 81 games and started 69 of them during his five-plus seasons with the New England Patriots . It's unlikely the lead-up to any of them was more frantic than this week.
Newly-acquired Pittsburgh Steelers safety Kyle Dugger plays against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Ed Thompson/Steelers Now
"This guy got on the moving train, man, and played a lot of defense for us today, and we needed it," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said afterward. "We were really short at the safety position. Coupled with D. Elliott's injury. We have some illness and soft-tissue injuries. We're running super thin, and that dude came in here … and gave us some quality work."
After being shipped to his new team earlier this week, Dugger had to immerse himself in a different vocabulary. His days since arriving were jam-packed.
"Just a bunch of work," Dugger said. "Bunch of work. Meetings with my coaches. Looking at film. Making calls, things like that. Communicating with them. So it's just been a grind of getting in the playbook."
He credited his teammates, including veteran defensive back Jalen Ramsey and fellow safety Juan Thornhill , for helping him out during the victory and during his short time wearing black and gold.
"I think it had everything to do with my coaches and the team," Dugger said. "My teammates (were) kinda making things (easier with) the terminology, as far as what I used to play and just kinda matching it up and laying it up for me and just kinda simplifying it in meetings and communicating on the field in practice. Every rep counted."
Even quarterback Aaron Rodgers took notice of Dugger's dedication. The two talked in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex's weight room on Wednesday.
"I always feel like if you can put your arms around that guy right away, you got a good chance of him kind of jumping onboard," Rodgers said. "And I felt like in Green Bay , we were really good at that. We had some misfits in 2010 that other teams kind of cast off, and we kind of brought them into the fold, did something special. He's a guy like that, too.
"He went from making money and being a starter to being out of the rotation. … Felt like the guys kind of brought him in and said, 'You're our guy.'"
We had some misfits in 2010 that other teams kind of cast off," Rodgers said. "He went from making money and being a starter to being out of the rotation. … Felt like the guys kind of just brought him in and said, 'You're our guy.'"
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : 'Misfit' Kyle Dugger Hustles to Help Diminished Steelers: 'Every Rep Counted'
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