Good news. Rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. logged more snaps in Week Two than Week One, finishing Monday night’s win over the Cleveland Browns with 14 of them. He impressed with key breakups on third down and the fourth-down coverage that led to an incompletion to win the game.
But for those hoping Porter immediately sees an expanded role coming off this game, I’ve got some bad news. It doesn’t sound like it’s in the cards. Speaking with reporters, as he does every Thursday, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Porter’s role is his role.
For now, anyway.
“That’s kind of where we are right now,” Austin said via a team-provided transcript. “We’ll continue to see if he can continue to do things well. There’s a possibility of expanding his role, but like we said, that’s kind of all the same things we’ve talked about all year. As he gets better and gets more snaps, if he earns it, then we’ll give him more reps.”
Austin did leave the door open for an expanded role, but it doesn’t sound like that change is coming for Sunday night’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s a similar answer to what Austin gave last week, confirming Porter is only a dime-package player right now. Meaning his snap count is based on game flow. Fall behind against the San Francisco 49ers, whose offense stayed out of third and long, and Porter only plays seven snaps. Play a closer game against the Cleveland Browns and force them into passing situations and Porter’s snap count doubles.
His third-down breakup in the first half was an impressive rep. Doing something he didn’t do much of in college, Cover 3, he read the quarterback, flipped his hips, and drove downhill to break on the ball. Cleveland was forced to settle for a field goal.
But the most memorable play came on his final rep, pinning veteran WR Donovan Peoples-Jones to the sideline to squeeze the throw that fell out of bounds. Austin denied there was any excessive contact and the refs evidently agreed, opting against throwing the flag.
The rep earned praise from former players like Eric Crocker, who briefly played in the NFL with the New York Jets in 2013.
Throughout the game, the Browns targeted CB Levi Wallace, who took his lumps, while Patrick Peterson allowed a third-down conversion to WR Amari Cooper and missed a tackle on a 29-yard play by TE David Njoku (in fairness, Porter missed on the play, too). But there are no signs that the Steelers are going to bench either of those corners, which would put Porter in a dime-only role. It will likely take more time, more positive plays from Porter and negative ones from the others, for the team to make a change.
Pittsburgh’s goal is to ease Porter into NFL snaps. Not put too much on his plate. The interesting thing about his role, playing in dime packages, is they’re always high-leverage situations. Third down, end of half, end of game. All weighty downs. In that sense, it’s a chance for Porter to grow up. So far, he’s responded reasonably well but the Steelers seem content with his current role.
