Even those inside the Pittsburgh Steelers organization — or were just a few days ago — don’t appear to know what the dadgum heck is going on with defensive end Stephon Tuitt.

Tuitt’s absence has been one of the great mysteries of the 2021 Steelers season (along with what happened to the supposed innovative Matt Canada offense). And despite the Steelers media’s repeated inquiries during head coach Mike Tomlin’s press conferences, the answer was always the same: “I hadn’t given it any thought.”

Tuitt had a breakout 2020 campaign in which he had a career-high 11 sacks and 25 quarterback hits. Tuitt spent the 2021 season on injured reserve and hasn’t been seen since he made a brief appearance at practice in October.

A guest of 93.7 The Fan PM Team, former Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler shed a little bit more light on the situation but nothing revealing.

“I really don’t know,” Butler said regarding a return for Tuitt. “That’s going to be up to Mr. [Art] Rooney. I have no idea. I don’t know where he is set mentally. That’s something very private that and we didn’t know a whole lot about it. We just took it for granted that what happened to him and his family was very hard on him, and he struggled with it. I hope he comes back for the team. I don’t know if he will. We’ll see what happens.”

Tuitt is entering the final year of his contract, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are on the hook for nearly $14 million.