Joey Porter Jr. ready to 'rock and roll' for Penn State

Even if he didn’t know when his next game was going to be, Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr. remained prepared throughout August and September while the Big Ten’s 2020 season was still canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s definitely hard,” Porter Jr. said via video conference Thursday. “Because you don’t know what’s coming. You don’t know if you’re going to have a season. But at the end of the day, you have to be locked in because you never know what’s going to happen or when your team is going to be called to play. So you just have to go into practice with the same mindset every day being ready to play so you can get ready to play.”

With the Big Ten having reversed course, play will commence Nov. 23. Porter appears to have used the past handful of weeks, as uncertain as they were, in a wise fashion.

“I really went deep into the playbook more,” said the North Allegheny product. “I just studied a lot more. Worked on my tape work. Working on being more prepared, so when we do get that call, I’ll be ready.”

Porter also feels he’ll be ready because he is far more comfortable as he enters his second season at Penn State.

“Last year around this time, I thought I was ready,” Porter Jr. said. “I’m not going to lie. I thought I was ready to play. I thought I’d be on the field. And mentally, I wasn’t. I really didn’t know the ins and outs of the defense as I do now. … I feel a lot better stronger, faster. And I feel like I have a lot more understanding of the playbook. That’s the big difference between last year and this year.”

After appearing in only four games last season, Porter Jr. appears to be in the mix to be one of Penn State’s top reserves at cornerback.

Tariq Castro-Fields and Keaton Ellis are projected as the starters, and Porter is competing with Marquis Wilson for playing time.

The son of Joey Porter, the former Steelers linebacker and coach, Porter Jr. credited a variety of individuals in helping him progress into his second season.

“A lot of people helped me,” Porter Jr. said. “My father helped me to understand the playbook. The corner room helped me a lot. Castro-Fields, the leader of the corner room, he showed me the ins and outs. (Assistant head coach Terry Smith), (graduate assistant V’Angelo Bentley), they all played a big part helping me understand and know the defense so when I’m out there, I know what I’m doing.”

Of course, Porter Jr. has a considerable resource in his father, a Pro Bowler with the Steelers in the 2000s who helped them win Super Bowl XL.

“I still watch film with him when I have the time,” Porter Jr. said. “I sent him some of my stuff that I like or that I want him to watch. It’s been great. He always gives me things that I have to work on on or off the field. It’s a plus that some player or some people don’t get to have. And I take advantage of that to the extent that I can.”

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds, Porter Jr. boasts physical attributes that pose an impediment to the opposition.

“I use my length and speed on the field for a lot of things,” Porter Jr. said. “But mainly my press technique is difficult for receivers because of my length. My speed is also difficult for them.”

However Porter Jr. is used in 2020, he is just happy to have a chance to play.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” Porter Jr. said. “But I feel like the guys are ready. We’re all ready. We all know what we’re here to do. I feel like were all on the same page, and now it’s time to rock and roll.”