Welcome to the NFL, rookie.
That moment happened in front of thousands of fans — and even his father — Tuesday afternoon for Pittsburgh Steelers rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. in a one-on-one drill against second-year wide receiver George Pickens on Chuck Noll Field in Latrobe.
Porter was on the wrong end of a highlight-reel catch from Pickens down the left sideline Tuesday at Saint Vincent College, leading to a bit of a heated moment between the two young players.
Though he was on the wrong end of the highlight and will have to live with that moving forward, especially in training camp, Porter shrugged off the play like a grizzled veteran, stating to reporters after practice that he’s all about getting better and improving, adding that you win some and lose some in competition, according to video via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski.
“I’m always hungry to get better, to get my wins. He got it today. Tomorrow I’m gonna try and get mine,” Porter said, according to video via Adamski. “If it don’t, I’m just gonna keep going to get mine. That’s just how I roll.”
That’s a great attitude to have for the young cornerback.
Plays like that are going to happen, especially in the NFL where everyone is a great athlete and a great player overall.
Having that type of mindset of learning from failure is important for a young cornerback, especially needing to have that next-play mindset at the position.
Sure, Pickens will be the talk of the Steelers moving forward for the next few days due once again to a highlight-reel play. He’s also developing quite the rivalry against Porter in camp as the two continue to go head to head and already had a bit of a run-in earlier in camp.
But iron sharpens iron, and if these two continue to battle like this day after day in Latrobe, the Steelers will only be that much better for it.
Shake it off, move on to the next play, the next session, the next day. Porter has it going on between the ears. Pickens may have won the battle, but not the war, so to speak.
