The Dallas Cowboys pulled off a major NFL trade this week, after months of hinting and teasing that one was coming, finally pulling the trigger on a deal for disgruntled Steelers star cornerback Joey Porter Jr. They sent out a 2027 second-rounder and 2026 sixth-rounder in the deal and, as it turns out, that was the easy part. The tough part was getting Porter primed up and ready to take the field despite not having played at all this season–he was holding out for contract reasons–and despite no knowledge of the Cowboys’ system.
It was a crazy thing to even ask of Porter. But the Cowboys did ask.
And, in the end, Porter held up exceptionally well. As RJ Ochoa of the Blogging the Boys site on SB Nation wrote on Twitter/X: “Dallas Cowboys CB Joey Porter Jr. played 24 of 52 possible defensive snaps in his debut with the team (46.2% playtime). This includes 19 snaps in coverage without allowing a single reception against just one target faced. (via @NextGenStats).”
Joey Porter Jr. Happy for the Cowboys Win
Porter said that as soon as he landed in Dallas on Thursday, the focus of the Cowboys and the team’s staff was to find a way to get him on the field in time for the Houston game. Porter deserves credit for being willing to get things turned around that quickly, and he was asked after the game if there was a word to describe what the process was like for him.
“Hectic,” he said. “Hectic, probably. But it came out with a win and that’s all I am happy for.”
Credit to Cowboys Coaches and Teammates
Porter credited not only the Cowboys staff, but also safeties Caleb Downs and Malik Hooker for helping him through the finer points of the team defense. His football instincts helped, too.
He said: “It was a little bit of both, that’s why I wasn’t out there too much but the times I was out there, I was comfortable with the calls. The defense was helping me, (Caleb) Downs (Malik) Hooker, talking to me the whole game, so, shoutout to them boys because without them I wouldn’t have even been able to play out there.”
Joey Porter Jr.: ‘I Am a Dog’
Porter does foresee some improvement coming in the Cowboys defense, and that could come along once the team starts getting healthy and does a better job absorbing the defense of new coordinator Christian Parker. He said communication will be critical, for him and for everyone.
“Communication, that’s the biggest thing,” Porter said. “Like I said, Hook and Downs were communicating with me all game, throughout the whole week, so, when we got to Sunday, to the game today, it wasn’t really a stress because we have been talking all week.”
As hectic as it all was to get ready for Sunday, Porter was happy to have gone through it: “I am a dog at the end of the day and I want to be out there with the guys, so I have to prove why they got me here, and I feel like I did that today.”
Cowboys’ Joey Porter Has 1 Word for Wild Debut