Things got real murky, real quick, on Thursday when Steelers coach Mike McCarthy completely dodged questions about cornerback Joey Porter Jr.’s status. It was a bizarre scene, and it left everyone scratching their heads about what’s actually going on.
McCarthy’s Cryptic Remarks
Wednesday, reporters didn’t even ask about Porter. But by Thursday? Oh, they absolutely did. McCarthy confirmed Porter was limited in practice on Wednesday, saying he was scheduled “to do some more today, so we’ll see how that goes.” Fair enough, right? Except a reporter pushed back, asking whose decision it was to limit Porter on Wednesday. That’s when McCarthy got super defensive, snapping, “We have a plan for every one of our players. So, he did the work that was planned on.” The follow-up question, asking if it was the team’s plan, was met with an even sharper reply: “We’re not gonna play this game anymore about every little question. You can just see [P.R. director] Burt [Lauten] for the injury report.” Yikes. Talk about a cold shoulder.
The Mystery Deepens with Conflicting Reports
But wait, it gets even weirder, because the team’s official reports are all over the place. The Steelers’ own website listed Porter as limited on Wednesday with the designation: “not injury related , conditioning.” Okay, “conditioning,” we can maybe get that. But then the NFL’s official report, which gets emailed out to everyone, said on *both* Wednesday and Thursday that Porter was limited due to “not injury related , other.” “Other?” What the heck does “other” mean? It feels like we’re being led around in circles here.
So yeah, don’t expect any real clarity on Joey Porter Jr.’s status anytime soon. McCarthy clearly isn’t talking, and those conflicting “not injury related” designations are only fueling the fire. Reporters are definitely going to be hounding Burt Lauten, but it feels like this situation is only getting more twisted. Fans deserve a straight answer, don’t they?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.
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