{"id":91901,"date":"2025-09-12T13:32:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T13:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901"},"modified":"2025-09-12T13:32:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T13:32:56","slug":"steelers-cb-joey-porter-jr-s-week-2-status-up-in-air-after-thursday-dnp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901","title":{"rendered":"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n
The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers enter Week 2 facing uncertainty in their secondary\u00a0as cornerback\u00a0Joey Porter Jr. missed practice\u00a0for a second consecutive day\u00a0on Thursday with a hamstring injury, Mike DeFabo of The Athletic reported.\u00a0Porter exited Sunday\u2019s season-opening win over the New York Jets\u00a0and has not participated since.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Head coach Mike Tomlin downplayed the issue after Week 1, calling it tightness in Porter\u2019s hamstring, and expressed optimism Tuesday that the cornerback would be available for the Steelers\u2019 home opener against the Seattle Seahawks. However, two consecutive days of missed practice now cast doubt on that optimism.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Steelers\u2019 injury report points to several concerns. Along with Porter, safety DeShon Elliott (knee), defensive tackle Derrick Harmon (knee), and veteran defensive tackle Cam Heyward (rest) were also non-participants on Thursday. Elliott, who is dealing with an MCL sprain, has already been ruled out for multiple weeks. Harmon has also been declared out for Sunday.<\/p>\n

At the same time, outside linebacker Nick Herbig (hamstring) was a full participant for the first time since suffering an injury in the preseason, and offensive tackle Calvin Anderson (illness) also returned to full work. Star pass rusher T.J. Watt, who rested on Wednesday, returned as a full participant in Thursday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Porter\u2019s potential absence would significantly impact Pittsburgh\u2019s defensive structure. The 2023 first-rounder has become a fixture in the Steelers\u2019 cornerback rotation, allowing flexibility for Jalen Ramsey to move between outside duties and safety responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Without Porter, the team will likely lean heavily on veterans Ramsey and Darius Slay, both of whom played every defensive snap in Week 1. Brandin Echols, the team\u2019s primary slot corner, could be forced into expanded outside reps after filling in for Porter against the Jets.<\/p>\n

The Steelers signed Jabrill Peppers this week to help reinforce a safety group already thin due to Elliott\u2019s injury. If Porter is unavailable, Peppers will likely see more action alongside Juan Thornhill and Chuck Clark, giving Pittsburgh few options to rotate personnel. That scenario would leave the secondary tasked with handling a Seahawks offense that features wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, one of Geno Smith\u2019s top passing targets.<\/p>\n

Tomlin and the Steelers have recent history to lean on in managing soft tissue injuries. Last season, wide receiver George Pickens missed three games with a strained hamstring, and the team is generally cautious with recovery timelines. Friday\u2019s final practice and walkthrough will be important in determining Porter\u2019s Week 2 availability.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers enter Week 2 facing uncertainty in their secondary\u00a0as cornerback\u00a0Joey Porter Jr. missed practice\u00a0for a second consecutive day\u00a0on Thursday with a hamstring injury, Mike DeFabo of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nSteelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers enter Week 2 facing uncertainty in their secondary\u00a0as cornerback\u00a0Joey Porter Jr. missed practice\u00a0for a second consecutive day\u00a0on Thursday with a hamstring injury, Mike DeFabo of...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-12T13:32:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/548191924_122153533196792721_378.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"508\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"565\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901\",\"name\":\"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/548191924_122153533196792721_378.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-12T13:32:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-12T13:32:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/548191924_122153533196792721_378.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/548191924_122153533196792721_378.jpg\",\"width\":508,\"height\":565},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06\",\"name\":\"XuanTan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"XuanTan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP - NEWS USA","og_description":"The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers enter Week 2 facing uncertainty in their secondary\u00a0as cornerback\u00a0Joey Porter Jr. missed practice\u00a0for a second consecutive day\u00a0on Thursday with a hamstring injury, Mike DeFabo of...","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2025-09-12T13:32:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":508,"height":565,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/548191924_122153533196792721_378.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"XuanTan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"XuanTan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901","name":"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/548191924_122153533196792721_378.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-12T13:32:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-12T13:32:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/548191924_122153533196792721_378.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/548191924_122153533196792721_378.jpg","width":508,"height":565},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=91901#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s Week 2 status up in air after Thursday DNP"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06","name":"XuanTan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"XuanTan"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91901"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91905,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91901\/revisions\/91905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}