Joey Porter Jr. traveled with the Cowboys to Green Bay after being listed as questionable with an ankle injury, keeping him in range for Sunday night’s game against the Packers. He was not downgraded to out, which leaves his status open rather than settled.
That is why the question, Is Joey Porter Jr playing today, is still live. The Cowboys needed options at cornerback after DeMarvion Overshown was ruled out for the trip and will miss Sunday night’s game at Lambeau Field, while Porter remained on the travel list and in the mix for the secondary.
Porter’s status matters because the Cowboys do not have a clean answer yet. He had played only days after arriving in Dallas, then missed what would have been his second game because of a sudden illness, and now he is back in the conversation with an ankle issue attached to him instead. Being questionable is one thing; being unavailable is another, and the team did not take the step that would have ended the debate by moving him to out.
The Cowboys also elevated Derion Kendrick and Juanyeh Thomas from the practice squad, a move that reads as insurance if Porter cannot go. Kendrick, in particular, gives the Cowboys another layer of protection if the game-day decision turns against them, but the fact that Porter traveled suggests the team was still leaving the door open.
Overshown’s absence adds to the urgency around the defensive setup. He has a hamstring injury, has not played since Week 1, and was described by Brian Schottenheimer as a long shot to play before the Cowboys announced on Saturday that he did not make the trip to Green Bay. That leaves the secondary as one of the more important parts of the roster to watch when the game kicks off Sunday night.
So the answer is not a clean yes or no yet. Porter made the trip, stayed off the out list, and kept himself eligible for a late call, but the Cowboys still had not confirmed his game-day active status. For now, that is the story: he is available enough to matter, but not confirmed enough to count on.
