PITTSBURGH — The statuses of Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and wide receiver Ben Skowornek are in doubt after both suffered injuries against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.
Porter left the game with what was believed to be a calf injury but was later diagnosed as a knee injury. PennLive.com reported that the Steelers fear that Porter may have suffered a PCL sprain, which would likely cause him to miss more than just this week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Skowronek also left the game with a hip injury and head coach Mike Tomlin seemed to hint he has an uphill battle to play on Wednesday, too.
“The two guys that didn’t finish yesterday’s game, Joey Porter with a knee and Ben Skowronek with a hip, they’re availability remains questionable,” Tomlin said. “I just don’t have a lot of new information on those guys, given that we just played last night and we’re still in the process of assessing the state of some of those things. Anybody that didn’t make it out of their stadium yesterday on a four day turnaround probably have a difficult time showing for this one.”
While Skowronek reeled in two catches for 25 yards early on in the Steelers loss to the Ravens, his absence would be much less significant than Porter’s. He is undoubtedly the Steelers’ No. 1 corner with 64 tackles (47 solo), one interception and six passes defensed this season.
Backup cornerbacks James Pierre and Cory Trice Jr. would likely help fill his void just as they did for cornerback Donte Jackson on Saturday. That is something Tomlin is comfortable with if needed.
“Cory’s done a nice job at practice and he did a nice job yesterday when given an opportunity to get back on the moving train, and he has done so earlier in the year,” Tomlin said. “So I expect more of the same from him.”
Still, that’s not going to make the job of minimizing three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes any easier. Mahomes will likely look Trice’s way early and often if he’s on the field, given his lesser experience.
Tomlin acknowledged just that and said that’s exactly why Trice and others need to focus on their own play instead of trying to play hero ball on Wednesday.
“In terms of competing against a guy like Mahomes, he better just focus on his fundamentals and his game,” Tomlin said. “He doesn’t have enough of a resume to get over preoccupied with what Mahomes is doing. He needs to focus on his game and his quality of play, his eyes, his techniques, his fundamentals, and I’m sure that he will.”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.