Pittsburgh Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. ran into a rash of penalties last year, but Dad doesn’t want him changing. Rather, he wants his son to keep playing his game, and that will take him through it. He knows the technique is there, and it is. Rarely is he actually in a position in which he is relying on infractions—it’s a matter of confidence.
The subject came up when Joey Porter Sr. appeared on Cameron Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast. Asked a series of questions for which the answer was either himself or his son, the topic moved to penalties.
“He’s a little handsy”, Porter Sr. admitted of Joey Porter Jr., but noted he doesn’t have his father’s big mouth. “He ran into his little penalties, and I told him, ‘Don’t change your game for nobody’. Because you’ve got to play the way you’ve been playing, and it’ll work itself out”.
Joey Porter Sr. is, of course, a great former pass rusher for the Steelers, who drafted Jr. in 2023. Dad even coached under Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh for a while, so he has seen this from every angle. Granted, he has never played defensive back, but as he noted, he has 12 career interceptions.
Selected 32nd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, Joey Porter Jr. did not instantly start. The Steelers made him earn his spot, beginning in select dime packages. By midseason, he did secure a full-time starting job, and he has held it since.
He did not, however, take an appreciable step forward last season, of which he is fully aware. At the end of the year, Porter vowed to return “a whole different me”. And cleaning up the penalties is a part of that, but exactly how?
The reality is that Joey Porter has shown in numerous games that he can play cleanly. But then he has a game or a rash of games in which he relies on grabbing and tugging when he doesn’t feel confident in his coverage.
The game that stands out was by far the first meeting between the Steelers and Bengals last season. Following WR Tee Higgins, Porter was called for five penalties that included holding, pass interference, and illegal use of hands. After the game, HC Mike Tomlin defended his young player, chalking it up to the assignment. “When we play Shaq, we’re gonna use our fouls”, he said.
But the Steelers need Joey Porter Jr. to be able to play Shaq without fouling out of the game. While he had a college reputation of being handsy, he still manages to go long stretches in the NFL without getting flagged.
I don’t have the expertise to pinpoint precisely what the issue is and whether it’s something he just has to play through. Every defensive back is going to get penalized, especially covering top guys as Porter does. I’m sure changing gloves won’t magically solve the problem, but confidence has to be a factor.
Recommended for you