The Steelers’ Saturday roster moves included the placement of one of their top rookies on injured reserve.
The team has announced that guard Jennings Dunker will be added to IR.
Dunker, a third-round pick from Iowa, was inactive for the first two games of the regular season.
He first appeared on the injury report on Thursday. Via Tom Pelissero of Netflix, Dunker suffered an MCL sprain during practice. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
The Steelers filled Dunker’s roster spot by signing running back Travis Homer from the practice squad. The Steelers also elevated running back Lew Nichols and defensive back Doneiko Slaughter from the practice squad.
The Steelers need the help at running back against the Bengals; Rico Dowdle is out with a toe injury, and Jaylen Warren is questionable with a shoulder injury.
We learned during the week that Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins were fined for gestures deemed to be obscene by the league office, but it turns out that both players were fined multiple times.
The NFL announced on Saturday that Higgins was fined three different times for making an obscene gesture. Higgins was also fined once for an illegal celebration/vulgar act during the win. All of the fines were for $14,926, which means Higgins’s total bill was $59,704.
Chase received two fines for the same amount. They had company in Detroit when it came to being fined several times.
Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was fined four times for illegal celebrations or vulgar acts. He owes the league the same amount as Higgins for the infractions.
Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, left tackle Penei Sewell and wide receiver Jameson Williams were also fined for the same infraction. Williams picked up a $11,941 fine for taunting as well.
There were 18 fines for obscene gestures or illegal celebrations/vulgar acts around the league in Week 2.
Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. hasn’t played this season. It remains to be seen when he will play this season.
Porter is questionable, with the Steelers listing the reason as not-injury-related/conditioning.
In the first two weeks, he was also listed with a back injury.
Porter was limited in Friday’s practice, and he has yet to fully participate this season.
Porter said earlier this week he “definitely” sees himself playing at some point this season.
He is earning $3.924 million in 2026, the final year of his rookie deal, after not receiving his desired long-term deal. The Steelers’ team policy is not to negotiate once the season starts.
The Steelers ruled out running back Rico Dowdle (toe) and offensive guard Gennings Dunker (knee).
Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (foot), running back Jaylen Warren (shoulder) and cornerback Jamel Dean (ankle) are questionable. All three were limited practice participants again on Friday.
Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco is not on the trade block. That he knows of.
Flacco said today that after Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart got hurt, friends of his thought he was going to get traded to the Giants and reunited with coach John Harbaugh. Flacco had to tell them it wasn’t happening.
“It’s obviously not real and not true, but it was good enough to get people, certain friends of mine, to text me, ‘Hey I’ll see you in New York.’ I was like, ‘No, guys, you won’t, that’s not true,’” Flacco told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Flacco said he’s committed to the Bengals unless and until they tell him they’re trading him.
“It’s not up to me. I’m on the Cincinnati Bengals, and because of that, that’s my focus, is just being here, and doing the things I need to do to get better each day while I’m here,” Flacco said. “I get a little bit of a kick out of it, but it’s kind of out of my hands. . . . I’m a Cincinnati Bengal and I’m doing everything I can to get ready for the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Last year the Browns traded Flacco to the Bengals after Joe Burrow was injured, and Flacco acknowledged that he wouldn’t necessarily know if a trade was coming.
“I had no idea I was going to get traded last year, so you never know,” Flacco said. “But no, I have no reason to believe that. No.”
The NFL is sometimes called the No Fun League. Apparently, it’s also the No Phallus League.
Yes, I’ve now seen everything. (Not literally.)
The league fined Bengals receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for a celebration that was deemed to be obscene.
From Jonathan Jones of The Athletic: “On multiple occasions last week, Chase and Higgins each did a gesture that can be interpreted as resembling a phallus.”
In a session with reporters, Chase explained that the gesture is a variation of “the people’s elbow,” a move made popular by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“Bro, at the end of the day, I can’t say what something we made up, and then everybody else saying what it is,” Chase said, via Pat Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I can’t sit there and say that.
“Everybody gonna have their opinion on what it look like, what it is. They had many people talking about what it looked like, what it is but I can’t really sit here and say, ‘That’s what it is.’ You know? Obviously, that’s not what it is, but it is what it is.”
Some people other than the powers-that-be at 345 Park Avenue did indeed interpret the celebration as referring to the display of a body part other than an elbow.
Chase displayed a potentially acceptable alternative during his Wednesday press conference.
The disclosure comes on the same day that news emerged of a fine imposed on 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk for, in the league’s view, miming the chugging of a beer.
Chase suggested that the league’s “superstars” should work with the NFL Players Association and “fight for our money.”
While it makes no sense to fine Juszczyk for pretending to do what thousands of fans literally do while attending NFL games, the Chase and Higgins fines become the logical extension of the punishment, since that’s where the chugged beer quickly ends up.
The contract impasse continues between the Steelers and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. The Steelers’ policy of not negotiating after the regular season begins seems to prevent anything from getting done.
Porter is well aware of that.
“It didn’t get done,” Porter said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “It didn’t happen. That’s really just old news for me now. Just mainly just focused on what I’ve got ahead of me, and just really just getting back to 100 percent.”
Asked if he sees himself playing at some point, Porter said, “Yeah, definitely.”
The Steelers could definitely use him, sooner than later. The Bengals come to town on Sunday, and they’ll need to slow down receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Porter is earning $3.924 million in 2026, the final year of his rookie deal. Absent a new contract, the Steelers could apply the franchise tag in 2027.
As to the possibility of trading him before the deadline (which is 47 days away), they’d get the same draft picks in 2027 if they trade him now that they’d get if they tag and trade him in the offseason.
A long-term contract seems highly unlikely at this point. He needs to decide whether to play for far less than his perceived value, or whether to sit out for all (or most) of 2026.
Could it prompt a trade at or before the deadline? Possibly. There’s an argument to be made that his best play will be to play and play well, notwithstanding the risk of injury at a time when he has no security beyond the current season.
Still looking for their first win of the season, the Texans will face the division-rival Colts in Indianapolis this weekend.
Defensively, they may have gotten a leg up on their preparation from last week’s opponent.
That’s at least the implication from defensive end Will Anderson, who discussed facing Daniel Jones a week after facing Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow in his Wednesday press conference.
“He’s tough. He’s really tough,” Anderson said of Jones, via transcript from the team. “He kind of reminds me of Joe Burrow in a sense. If you disrespect the pocket, he’ll take off on you. He wants to stand in the pocket, and he wants to show that he’s a quarterback. I think he’s been doing a really good job of that.
“We have a ton of respect for him. It’s going to be a great challenge for us. Him and Joe Burrow really remind me a lot of each other. It’s going to be good for us.”
While Houston lost to Cincinnati 20-6, the Texans held Burrow to 20-of-31 passing for 207 yards with two touchdowns. The defense also sacked Burrow five times.
At a press conference before the Bengals practiced on Wednesday, head coach Zay Taylor said that he wasn’t sure how much quarterback Joe Burrow would be able to do at practice.
As it turns out, Taylor was either overly anxious about Burrow’s health or attempting some gamesmanship. Videos from the open portion of practice showed Burrow working without any limitations and the team did not list him on the injury report at all. That suggests he’s full speed ahead for this Sunday’s game against the Steelers.
Burrow was listed as questionable in Week 2 because of a back injury and could be heard telling teammates during the game that a hit from Texans defensive end Will Anderson popped his rib back into place.
Defensive tackles Jonathan Allen (knee) and B.J. Hill (Achilles) were both out of practice. Wide receiver Andrei Iosivas (thumb) also missed practice and he will miss at least four games after going on injured reserve.
With the Steelers facing the Bengals this weekend — and receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins — it would be helpful to have cornerback Joey Porter Jr. on the field.
Yet again, it appears he won’t be playing. And the situation seems to be settling into a week-to-week lather/rinse/repeat of limited practice time (if any) and no game appearances.
On Wednesday, coach Mike McCarthy wasn’t even asked about Porter during the midweek media availability. On one hand, it’s easy to justify the absence of a question by assuming that it would have promoted the same-old response about being optimistic he’ll play (or whatever). On the other hand, the questions badly need to change.
How frustrating is it that no progress is being made?
Is injured reserve being considered?
Do the Steelers believe Porter is actually injured, or do they suspect he is declining to play because he doesn’t have a contract?
No one wants to call this what it is. It’s a hold-in that has lingered into the season. Porter is doing what former Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons was ready to do in 2025. Once the Cowboys realized it was going to go that way, they quickly traded Parsons.
For the Steelers, there are only two ways out of this maze. Pay him, or trade him.
Playing hardball is possibly becoming harder to accomplish each week, since the Steelers are publishing injury reports that represent to the world that Porter is injured. (Today, the stated reason was “conditioning.”) If, at some point, the Steelers suddenly say “enough,” they may have to answer for weeks of possibly embellished injury reports.
Either way, it could get ugly if/when the Steelers decide to squeeze Porter to play. At some point, however, the situation becomes sufficiently obvious to be ridiculous.
It’s arguably already at that point.
And, again, there are only two good ways to fix it. Pay him, or trade him.
There is no change in cornerback Joey Porter Jr.'s practice participation level from last week, but his listing on the team’s injury report has changed.
Porter was a limited participant on Wednesday with conditioning given as the only reason for the limitations. Porter missed all of training camp and Week 1 with a back injury and that ailment returned to the injury report when Porter had to leave last Thursday’s practice early.
Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) was also listed as limited. Neither Pittman nor Porter played in the team’s Week 2 loss to the Patriots.
Cornerback Jamel Dean (ankle), running back Rico Dowdle (toe), linebacker Cole Holcomb (personal), and cornerback Jalen Ramsey (rest) were out of practice. Running back Jaylen Warren (shoulder) joined Pittman and Porter in the limited category.
