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Joey Porter Jr. injury update: Steelers DB receives positive news ahead of Bengals game

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones01/02/25brianjones_93
Joey Porter Jr
Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. received some good injury news as the team prepared for the final regular season game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers announced that Porter is on track to return this week after missing the Kansas City Chiefs game on Christmas Day.

“I think Mike [Tomlin] mentioned, he’s trending towards on the good side. So that’s a good thing,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said, per Steelers.com. “If he has a good work week, then we expect him to play well, and that’s really like we do every week. If guys have good work weeks, we expect them to play well and we move on with that assumption.”

Porter was dealing with a knee injury and was a full participant at practice all week. He suffered the injury in the Week 16 game against the Baltimore Ravens. In 15 games this season, Porter has collected 64 tackles, one interception and six passes defended.

Joey Porter Jr. has had some challenges during the 2024 season. Along with the knee injury, the former Penn State cornerback was flagged six times in the game against the Bengals last month.

More on Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.

“Certainly he could’ve been better from a technical standpoint,” Tomlin said at the time. “Competing against the likes of Tee Higgins, and his style of play, I felt the same way competing with DK Metcalf last year, you have to match physicality with these big people, and sometimes you do so at risk, and that’s just a tightrope that I and he are willing to walk in order to be competitive.

“One thing we’re not going to do is turn it down and allow him to catch the ball. He is a challenge. When we play Shaq, we’re going to use our fouls, we’re not going to allow him to get us off the block, if you need a basketball analogy.”

The Steelers selected Porter in the second round of the 2023 draft. During his rookie season, Porter played in all 17 games and recorded 43 tackles, one interception and 10 passes defended. His production in 2023 led to him finishing fifth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.