PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Corner Joey Porter, Junior said after the game Sunday, following five penalties against him, that he was still confident. That Mike Tomlin wasn't upset with him. What Tomlin said Tuesday about his corner referencing a killer instinct and Shaquille O'Neal.
Porter believes the officials are trying to affect his game this season, specifically in Cincinnati, rather than something he needs to change. Tomlin agreed, mostly.
"No tweaks in terms of approach," Tomlin said.
That didn't mean he was doing everything correctly. A former defensive backs coach, Tomlin explained he could have been better from a technical standpoint. There were a few things, he didn't get into specifics, the Steelers corner could have done at the line of scrimmage which would have helped him down the field.
Tomlin said he's also playing against some really good receivers, Sunday was Tee Higgins. Tomlin said Porter needed to match physicality against Higgins and said that puts you at risk.
"That's just a tight rope that I and he are willing to walk in an effort to be competitive," Tomlin said. "One thing we're not going to do is turn it down and allow him to catch the ball."
That is where the basketball analogy comes in.
"When we play Shaq, we're going to use our fouls," Tomlin said. "We're not going to allow them to get us off the block."
The strategy often against NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal was to foul him before he could score because he wasn't a good free throw shooter. The point here is to do what you need to do to keep the receiver from making a big play. And while he didn't say this, then hope there isn't a flag.
This is where Porter feels he's impacted. He believes officials know of this tactic and are focused on him more than others. The second-year corner has six pass interference calls this year, that's tops in the league along with Detroit's Terrion Arnold and Carolina's Jaycee Horn.
Tomlin feels like his young corner is going to come out of it because of how he approaches the game.
"He's got a serial killer's mentality," Tomlin said. "But if you're going to be a top-flight corner, you better. And that's probably one of the things that I knew about him because of our personal relationship, that really made me comfortable drafting him."
"It's not fake. It's real. He's not running from the fight, he's running to the fight. You better have a short memory at that position, and he's always had it. He was probably nine or 10 when I met him, and he had it then."
It might come with being a Porter. The name has also produced a lot of big plays. Tomlin is confident it will again.
