Joey Porter Jr.’s first game at AT&T Stadium will have to wait.
The Cowboys ruled the cornerback inactive for Thursday Night Football against the Buccaneers in a surprise move made about 90 minutes before kickoff. Porter had already debuted for Dallas in the win over the Texans, where he started for a defense that needed help in a hurry. This time, though, he was left out entirely.
Dallas listed Porter as inactive because of an illness. The team didn’t provide any further details, but NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported that Porter was “very sick” after arriving at AT&T Stadium and was sent home.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo added that Porter was “vomiting with a bad virus.” Porter also appeared to be unwell as he entered the stadium.
His absence is another hit for a Cowboys defense that has had issues in both victories and defeats, and now it goes into the matchup without one of its newest additions against undrafted rookie QB Jalon Daniels.
Porter’s Dallas timeline has moved quickly. He missed the Steelers’ first three games, then was traded to the Cowboys on Sept. 30 after sitting out all of Pittsburgh’s training camp with what was labeled a back injury. It later became clear that his absence was at least partly tied to a contract stalemate with the franchise.
Amazon Prime Video’s James Palmer reported that Porter had been expected to handle more snaps after being eased in against the Texans, but that plan is on hold for now.
With Porter unavailable, Dallas may lean on Cobie Durant and Ameer Speed for expanded roles. The Dallas Morning News’ Joseph Hoyt reported that Speed could be headed for a major workload after playing a career-high number of snaps against the Texans.
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