Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. held out of preseason opener vs. Buccaneers due to ankle injury

Joey Porter Jr. did not make his NFL debut Friday night against the Buccaneers. The Steelers rookie cornerback was inactive with a left ankle injury that was sustained during training camp. 

The injury is a setback in what has been a strong camp for the second-round pick. Much has been made about Porter’s practice matchups with George Pickens, who opened the scoring Friday night with a 32-yard touchdown catch from Kenny Pickett. Porter has had several interceptions during camp while continuing to test his skills against Pickens. 

“He is a quick learner,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin recently said of Porter, via Jeff Hathhorn of 93.7 The Fan. “He’s very much in the growth process in terms of the nuances of the professional game. The cornerback position in particular, it’s probably got more of an adjustment from college to pro than any other position in the game because of the differences in the rules in terms of contact beyond five yards. He’s doing a really good job of being cognizant of that. 

“He’s a line of scrimmage corner. Hand play has been a significant component of his game, so that adjustment we cannot underestimate. But I appreciate his efforts in that regard, and he’s being productive in the midst of that.” 

Porter has the benefit of practicing against a deep receiving corps that includes Pickens and former Pro Bowlers Diontae Johnson and Allen Robinson. He also has the luxury of working with eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson, who signed with the Steelers this offseason. Peterson, as you can see below, has taken Porter under his wing. 

A play that recently went viral involving Porter and Pickens took place during a practice last week when Porter was on the wrong end of Pickens’ jaw-dropping reception. While most everyone’s focus was (understandably) on the catch, Peterson took something else away from the play. 

“I saw growth from Joey again,” Peterson said. “When you see a guy make the catch, and it was a spectacular, unbelievable catch. But when you get the ball, and you put it in a DB’s face, that’s a fight waiting to happen. But you know what the young fella did very well? He kept his cool. He took the coaching points from coach Grady Brown, and he did not retaliate. That’s a sign of growth, because you can’t fight in a game, so we’re not going to do it on the practice field.”

Porter appears to have the perspective that’s gained from having been the son of an NFL player (his dad, Joey Porter, was a Pro Bowl linebacker during his time with the Steelers). It appears that Porter knows that there’s going to be ups and downs during his transition from college to the pros. That maturity and perspective surely helped him keep his composure in situations like the one that transpired between him and Pickens on Tuesday. 

“Iron sharpens iron,” Porter said of guarding Pickens. “We had a good little one-on-one. He caught some crazy stuff down there. Don’t know how he caught it. It’s great. We’re always going to talk candidly, but we’re teammates at the end of the day. We’re just working.”