PITTSBURGH (AP) — Patrick Peterson has been where he believes Joey Porter Jr. is going.
Pro Bowls. All-Pro teams. A decade-plus of being in the white-hot spotlight covering the best wide receivers in the world taught Peterson a few things. More than a few if the ever-talkative Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback turned safety is being honest.
And while Peterson understands his primary job is trying to help Pittsburgh’s battered secondary win in Baltimore on Saturday to boost its playoff hopes, he feels a very close second is helping Porter transition from talented rookie to the kind of shutdown corner defenses can build around.
“I was in (Porter’s) shoes once upon a time,” Peterson said Wednesday. “So I continue to pass along nuggets to him, about being a pro, finding his regimen, finding a routine so when next year comes rolling around he can hit the ground running and finish the season off where he left off.”
Those nuggets can be found in the defensive back meetings Peterson runs. No coaches necessary, just Peterson using game film and a near-photographic memory to pass along tricks of the trade and whatever else comes to mind.
“It’s just Professor Pat up there teaching,” Porter said with a laugh. “We just let him go to work.”
That professorial spirit is one of the reasons the Steelers signed Peterson to a two-year deal last spring. He has responded by doing whatever is asked, including switching from cornerback to safety full-time after injuries to Minkah Fitzpatrick, Keanu Neal and Trenton Thompson and Damontae Kazee’s suspension left the back end of Pittsburgh’s defense seriously exposed.
Enter Peterson, an eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro earlier in his career. He vowed one day that whenever he was asked to switch positions it was time for him to retire. The 33-year-old is no longer sure that’s the case.
A shift borne out of necessity also produced something Peterson didn’t expect: joy.
“It’s something I’ve never done before and makes coming to work that much more fun,” Peterson said. “I’m still getting my feet wet back there. We’ll see where it goes from here.”
Peterson feels comfortable enough to offer a promise to Porter and the rest of Pittsburgh’s cornerbacks that he won’t let them get beat deep. The early results have been promising if a slightly little bit mixed. Peterson let Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba slip by him for a 12-yard touchdown last weekend, a play the Steelers prepared for in practice, with one somewhat minor but important caveat.
Pittsburgh’s scout team ran the play with the ball at the Steelers 8. The Seahawks ran it four yards further back, changing the geometry of the coverage just enough for Smith-Njigba to get a small bit of separation. It seems like a minor detail. It’s not. It was a learning experience, even for someone who will play his 201st regular season game on Saturday night.
“I should have been a little bit deeper,” Peterson said. “That was just (me) not being in the best position to make a play on that ball.”
Earlier in his career, the mistake might have gotten to Peterson. Not so much anymore. He knows he’s much closer to the end than the beginning. There is still gas left in the tank, more than maybe even he anticipated.
“I love ball, man,” Peterson said.
He’s found a kindred spirit in that way in the 23-year-old Porter, the son of longtime NFL linebacker Joey Porter Sr., who was wrapping up his 13th and final season in the league in Arizona when Peterson made his debut with the Cardinals after being the fifth overall pick in the draft.
Peterson had a feeling things might come full circle in April, when he predicted there was a chance he and Porter Jr. could have a chance to play together in Pittsburgh. The Steelers then took the 6-foot-2 Porter Jr. with the first pick of the second round, a blessing that didn’t exactly feel like one in the moment.
Even now, eight months later, the chip that seemed to multiply in size when Porter wasn’t the first cornerback taken is still there. It doesn’t matter to Porter that he has spent his rookie season looking very much like a ballhawk who can render half of the field useless on a given snap by taking away the opponent’s best receiver.
The Steelers brought Porter along slowly, having him come off the bench for the first six games before finally putting him in the starting lineup. He has responded by making it a habit to ask defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to shadow players like D.K. Metcalf and Ja’Marr Chase, a request Austin has never refused.
Still, Austin is quick to point out that Porter is hardly a finished product.
“He’s got a lot of room to jump and improve and we’ve got to push him that way,” Austin said. “So it’s been good and we were deliberate and I think it worked out well for him.”
And Peterson, too. He has found a willing student in a player who says he’s been sticking to Peterson’s hip from their first meeting together during organized team activities.
“I ask (Peterson) one thing, he’s going to tell me 30,” Porter said. “I’ve just soaked it all in.”
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