After Sunday’s season opener, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin dismissed Joey Porter Jr.’s injury as a “hamstring (that) got tight.” Two days later at his weekly news conference, Tomlin declared himself “optimistic” about Porter’s chances of playing in this coming Sunday’s home opener.
Two days into the practice week, however, Porter has not yet seen the field.
According to the injury report, Porter again sat out practice Thursday as he had Wednesday. That figures to cloud his availability for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.
The Steelers are already without starting strong safety DeShon Elliott (knee).
If Porter cannot play, it is likely Jalen Ramsey would play on the outside throughout most of Sunday’s game, with safety and nickel/slot getting manned by some combination of Juan Thornhill, Chuck Clark, Brandin Echols and the newly signed Jabrill Peppers.
The good news via the Steelers practice report Thursday was that Nick Herbig was a full participant for the first time since he left the second preseason game because of a hamstring injury. Herbig missed the season-opening win at the New York Jets on Sunday.
Top backup offensive tackle Calvin Anderson also returned to full practice participation after he was listed as missing Wednesday’s session because of illness.
The Steelers will release their status report for Sunday’s game after they practice Friday.