PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Why the thought might be the Joey Porter, Junior injury/contract situation is a distraction for the Steelers. When you talk to the players, they say it isn’t and they remain firmly behind their starting cornerback.
Porter, Junior left practice on Thursday during the media viewing window with a trainer. He was placed back on the injured report with his recurring back ailment. This is after he had been a limited participant on Wednesday and Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy felt good about the work he was able to do.
“I haven’t heard anything,” said linebacker Patrick Queen. “I’m with Joey whatever he’s doing. Whether it’s injury, whether it’s contract, whatever it is, I respect it. I’m behind him 100%.”
Porter, Junior was not available for comment after Thursday’s practice. Queen says what we all don’t see is how hard Porter works when the public is not around, whether it’s in meetings or in the weight room. That earns respect from his peers.
When the team goes out on the field, when he’s not out there, they are just focused on preparing for the opponent and not wondering about Porter, Junior’s status.
“I don’t think it’s much of a distraction right now, obviously he’s a great player for us, but for us it’s about the guys that are on the field,” said linebacker Alex Highsmith. “We’ve been having great practices, coming off and having a great first game.”
Highsmith said he wants to see Porter, Junior get paid but it’s about the group on the field preparing for the Patriots.
“No, not at all,” Queen said when asked if it’s a distraction. “At the end of the day, we got 11 guys that go out there on the field and play football. We love Joey. I don’t say that lightly, I actually love him. If he called me today, I would be there for him.”
“I respect whatever he is going through, but at the end of the day, we got 11 guys out there and play. I know he wants to. It’s the tough part about it because you know he wants to, but I respect everything about it.”
As the Steelers players union representative, Highsmith said he doesn’t know the extent to which the union is involved in this matter. All kept saying it’s a matter of seeing everyone get paid. There is a unifying quality to it, even if it hurts the current roster.
“We know he means a lot to our defense,” Highsmith said.
But it seems like, at least at this point, he means more to them as a person.
What teammates said of the situation with starting corner
What teammates said of the situation with starting corner
