The Cowboys had to navigate Thursday Night Football without Joey Porter Jr., and Richard Sherman made the absence sound a little more complicated than a simple injury update.
Sherman, speaking on the TNF pregame show, tied Porter’s status to contract talk while acknowledging he was speculating. As Shan Shariff posted on X, Sherman said, “Maybe if they were to give him a new contract, maybe he’d be a little healthier today,” Richard Sherman said on the TNF pregame show.
“I’m speculating right now. They’re saying it’s legitimate.
What I’m saying, everything developed really quickly. It’s unfortunate.”
Porter was ruled out less than two hours before kickoff, according to ESPN. The timing added to the intrigue, especially because of how his situation unfolded before and after the trade to Dallas. He did not play before the move, citing a back injury, but once he arrived in Dallas, he was quickly back on the field.
That was part of what made the absence Thursday stand out. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer had recently praised Porter’s eagerness to suit up, according to Heavy.com via Sporting News.
“What I loved about Joey was how excited he was to get out there,” Schottenheimer said. “He wanted to play in this game, even on the pitch count.
He wanted to play. (And) he worked like crazy with Derrick Ansley and Christian Parker and those guys to get out there, but we weren't going to throw him into a situation where he didn't know some of the calls and defenses.
“So we were limited with what we could use, but we'll see the film. Incredibly talented young man that very, very fortunate to have.”
The contract question is likely to linger as long as Porter remains without a new deal. He is in the final year of his rookie contract, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones brushed off the topic in his usual matter-of-fact way, according to Heavy.com.
“We’ve got great agreements,” Jones said. “The agreements are in place so that I don’t even have to talk about a question like that. I’m not at all perturbed by the question, but we’ve got that put to bed in terms of their business one way or the other.”
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