Joey Porter Jr.’s Week 9 outlook is suddenly murky again, and the Dallas Cowboys are back to waiting on their newest cornerback.
Porter, who has been dealing with an ankle injury since Week 6, was a full participant on Wednesday before taking a step backward on Thursday. Jon Machota of The Athletic reported that Dallas downgraded him to limited participation, leaving his status in doubt for Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.
That’s a tough turn for a player the Cowboys acquired in September, sending a 2028 second-round pick and a conditional 2027 sixth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers to get him. The hope was obvious: add a proven defensive back and stabilize the secondary. Instead, Porter’s early run in Dallas has been interrupted by injuries and uneven availability.
He has already been on the field for less than half of the defensive snaps in two of the three games he’s played. Against the Green Bay Packers in Week 6, he logged 36 snaps. He played 51 snaps in Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles, then dropped back to 36 snaps in Week 8 against the Arizona Cardinals.
If Porter can’t go, Dallas will have to piece together the cornerback group with DaRon Bland, Cobie Durant, Ameer Speed and Shavon Revel Jr. carrying the load.
Porter entered the league as the No. 32 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and built a strong reputation over his first three seasons with Pittsburgh. In that span, he posted 165 tackles, one sack, 31 passes defensed and three interceptions.
Before the NFL, he starred at Penn State from 2019-22, finishing with 115 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, 17 passes defensed and one interception.
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