Richard Sherman didn’t stop at the injury report when Joey Porter Jr. was ruled out for the Dallas Cowboys’ Thursday night matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On the Amazon Prime Video pregame show, the former cornerback floated a business-first explanation for why Porter wasn’t on the field.
Porter was listed out because of what was described as an apparent stomach bug. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that Porter had "been vomiting with a bad virus" and was "not in a condition to play" Thursday night.
Still, Sherman connected the absence to the contract side of the sport. Speaking on the pregame show, he said, per Nate Davis of USA Today, "The Dallas Cowboys are dealing with a little bit of what the Pittsburgh Steelers were dealing with.
Hey, is [Porter] gonna play? Is he not?
Is he sick? Is he not?
Is his back hurt? Is it not?
Negotiations, this is a business. ... Maybe if they (Dallas) would have gave [Porter] a new contract, maybe he would have been a little healthier today."
Sherman also made clear he was "speculating" about Porter’s status.
For now, the simplest explanation still appears to be the real one: Porter was sick. He had made his Cowboys debut in Dallas’ 34-30 win over the Houston Texans on Oct. 4, and Jerry Jones said as recently as Wednesday that he and Porter’s camp had a "great agreement" worked out regarding the player staying on his current deal through the rest of the season.
Jones gave a more straightforward update before kickoff on Dallas sports radio station 105.3 The Fan. "He really has got a lot of stomach issues," Jones said, per Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News.
"He wanted to go so bad ... That's disappointing, but we'll have to overcome it."
The Cowboys couldn’t. Dallas fell 24-16 in a surprise loss that dropped the team to 2-3.
Now the focus shifts to whether Porter can get healthy in time for Dallas’ "Sunday Night Football" game at the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 18.
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