PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Joey Porter, Junior never got the opportunity at North Allegheny HS or at Penn State to play a game at Acrisure Stadium. He missed the first preseason game with an ankle injury, so this was not only a homecoming, but his NFL debut.
Second quarter, Porter was in during one of his first handful of snaps, had just talked to his coach before going out on that series.
“We were talking about getting our hands on receivers in Cover 2,” Porter, Junior explained. “He’s like once you get your hands on him, push him out-of-bounds and look for the ball, because it’s going to be there. Exactly like that, it happened.”
Related
Porter had his first career interception, the first-and-10 pass from Bills backup quarterback Matt Barkley grabbed by Porter at the Buffalo 30-yard-line. He would be tackled four yards later, but still headed to the end zone. He did so because of another conversation with fellow rookie Nick Herbig.
“That’s my dawg, literally right before the play, he was like ‘get me a sack’ and I was like ‘get me a pick’,” Herbig said. “Alright first one to do it we are running over there (end zone) and turning up. I was happy to see my dawg get his first pick and celebrate that special moment with him.”
A little after that, Porter was able to find his father and give him his first NFL interception, although he admitted his dad will want one in a real game.
Related
“It was cool,” Porter, Junior said. “I was looking for him the whole time, but I couldn’t find him. He was all the way up there in the nose bleeds. When he finally came down, I got the ball back and I gave it to him.”
Along with his father, another mentor of his is veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson. He has been working with Porter since he was drafted. Peterson saying it’s great to see young players have success early. It reminded him of getting a Pick Six in his third preseason game as a rookie and it ended up sparking his season. His advice to Porter before the game.
“You don’t have to do anything outside of your body or anything spectacular,” Peterson said. “Just be where you are supposed to be and the ball will find you. I’ll be dog-gone, the ball found him in the second quarter. A great play boost for him.”
“It’s good,” Porter said of matching is college total of interception in his first NFL preseason game. “I always want to stand on what I say. I’ve been telling people I’ve been working on my hands a lot. Nothing better than a homecoming game and getting my first pick.”
Porter, Junior said he felt really comfortable out there. He said he was shocked because he didn’t overthink himself and wasn’t nervous. Porter said he goes against elite guys every day in George Pickens and Diontae Johnson. He said it was like practice playing against another team.
“I thought he did solid today, looking with the naked eye,” Peterson said. “I thought he was where he was supposed to be when he was in there. I was super-excited when we went dime and he got his first rep with me moving on the inside. From the naked eye, I thought he did pretty solid. Now we have to go back and watch the tape.”
“We can’t get him enough snaps,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “We’ll be working our tails off to make up for last week’s missed opportunity. And so, I like some of the things that he did, but, boy, we’ve got to see a lot more. He has to see a lot more. There’s no substitute for snap exposure.”
“It was perfect, especially first one back at home,” Porter, Junior said. “I had never played at (Acrisure Stadium) before. It was great to be out there with the guys and run around. I got my first pick, perfect.”
“It was the first one, hopefully first of many.”
Related
