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‘He Knows It Was Working:’ Joey Porter Jr. Plans To Use Same Strategy Against Browns WR Jerry Jeudy

Joey Porter Jr.

Some view trash talk as unnecessary in professional sports, but it can provide a tangible benefit to those who do it properly. Joey Porter Jr. had it down to a science against Cleveland Browns WR Jerry Jeudy, and he plans to keep it going every chance he gets.

“That’s my game plan. I like to trash-talk, so any opportunity I could get to get under a guy’s skin, I’m gonna do that for sure,” Porter said via the Steelers’ YouTube. “I feel like it was working. I know he knows it was working. So I’m gonna keep doing that every time, especially when I see him again.”

Porter hadn’t played in a game since Week 1, and you could tell he was raring to get back on the field. He brought plenty of energy, which translated to throwing verbal jabs at Jeudy and other Browns receivers all game long.

It paid off almost immediately as Porter baited Jeudy into a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.

 

That was the Browns’ first drive of the game, and it started with some promise, gaining 12 yards through the air from Dillon Gabriel to Jeudy. The penalty put them behind the sticks, and they never recovered with an eventual punt on 4th and 19.

Porter made sure to rub it in after the Steelers’ 23-9 win with some pointed postgame comments to Jeudy.

Porter has big shoes to fill in that department. His father set the gold standard for chirping at other teams, and that’s not something that had to be taught; it runs in the family.

“He knew I already had it in me,” Porter said of receiving no lessons in the art from Porter Sr. “He didn’t really have to coach me up too much on that.”

The Steelers’ defense as a whole has a lot of personality now. Jalen Ramsey, Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, and probably a few others all love to partake in the art of trash-talking. When a talented defense finds its personality, like what seems to be happening right now in Pittsburgh, great things can happen on the field.

Jeudy better be ready when the Steelers and Browns face off again in Week 17. Porter will push all his buttons to see if he can get under his skin once again.

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