BALTIMORE — The injury that Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. suffered during Saturday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens might be much worse than initially feared.
Porter was injured in the first half of the game against the Ravens, and was reported as being questionable to return with a calf injury. Muscle strains can be frustrating — and doubly so for a Steelers team that have been beset by them this season — but the fact that Porter was reported as questionable to return seemed to suggest there was a possibility that this one might be minor.
When he returned to the game after the end of the first half, it seemed like it was trending toward being a very minor issue.
But then Porter came back out of the game for good. Head coach Mike Tomlin said after the game that Porter actually has a knee injury, not a calf issue as was originally reported.
Porter first came out of the game complaining of calf pain, but later examination from the Steelers medical staff revealed that it was a knee injury that was causing the calf pain.
After the game, PennLive.com reported that the Steelers fear that Porter may have suffered a PCL sprain.
That type of injury could cost him the rest of the regular season or more. Running back Jaylen Warren two weeks earlier this season, and his was on the mild end of the possibilities.
Porter was walking around in the locker room after the game, so he doesn’t have a full tear of the knee ligament, but at this crucial date, any time missed will hurt.
That’s doubly true because the Steelers were already playing without fellow starting cornerback Donte Jackson, who missed the game with a pinched nerve in his back, and strong safety DeShon Elliott, out with a hamstring injury.
