The Dallas Cowboys are set to face off against the once again Baker Mayfield-less Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.
Whilst the Cowboys are backed fairly heavily by the oddsmakers, the team will have to face face the Buccaneers without their new signing and top defensive players, Joey Porter Jr. – who has been ruled out of the game with an illness, per ESPN’s Todd Archer.
Joey Porter Jr. Set to Miss Thursday Night Game with Illness
“Joey Porter Jr. has been ruled out due to an illness. He will not play tonight. Cowboys cornerback room takes hit”, Archer posted on X on Oct. 8.
Indeed, according to Jane Slater, Porter arrived at the facility looking “very sick” before the team sent him home on Thursday and ruled him out of the game.
“So I talked to another Cowboys team source who just told me Joey Porter Jr. was “very sick” when he arrived to the facility and the team sent him home.” Slater reported.
Dallas will thus look to start either fourth year pro Ameer Speed, or second year former third round pick Shavon Revel, who has had a poor start to the season, after Cobie Durant was also ruled out for the third week in a row with a hamstring injury.
Porter Jr. played his first snaps of the NFL season last weekend in the 34-30 win against the Houston Texans, garnering a decent but unspectacular 61.3 grade from Pro Football Focus.
Porter’s Absence Yet Another For the Cowboys’ Secondary
The former Steeler’s injury adds one more to an otherwise decimated secondary that will be missing him and Durant alongside safeties Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke.
Prior to his illness, Porter was still working his way back to full match-fitness, and only played 45% of snaps on defense last weekend. It was Speed who picked up most of the slack on the boundary against the Texans playing 23 snaps to Revel’s 7; no doubt an indication of where the East Carolina alum stands with the defensive coaching staff after an underwhelming start to the season.
Nevertheless, the Cowboys will still look to make the best out of their relatively big draft investment from just over 18 months ago, and could look at Thursday night’s game as an opportunity for him to shine and regain some confidence against a backup quarterback – and one that has just one start at that.
Cowboys Get Crushing Last-Minute News on Joey Porter Jr.