The Patriots have jumped out to an early lead over the Steelers today, but on their second scoring drive, they suffered a big loss,.
Patriots right guard Mike Onwenu was carted off the field a right ankle injury, and the Patriots ruled him out for the rest of the game within minutes of the injury.
Onwenu has started all 17 games the last two seasons and been one of the most consistent players on the Patriots’ offense, and losing him will be a big blow.
New England got a 39-yard touchdown run from TreVeyon Henderson to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, and a 30-yard field goal from Andy Borregales to extend the lead to 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Steelers Clips
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow called it “ridiculous” to think he might miss Sunday’s game in Houston because of back tightness and he is active for the Week 2 matchup with the Texans.
Burrow’s health became a talking point this week when he was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but he returned to full practice on Friday. The Bengals still listed him as questionable for the team’s first road game of the season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Burrow felt normal while going through Friday’s practice, but was very sore earlier in the week. The Texans pass rush could exacerbate that soreness if they’re able to get to Burrow early in Sunday’s game.
Bengals at Texans
Bengals: WR Ke’Shawn Williams, CB Josh Newton, OL Connor Lew, DL BJ Hill, DL Landon Robinson, QB Josh Johnson, OL Myles Hinton
Texans: TE Brevin Jordan, WR Nico Collins, LB Jake Hummel, CB Collin Wright, G Ed Ingram, OT Nate Thomas, DE Jadeveon Clowney
Panthers at Falcons
Panthers: LB Pat Jones, TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, QB Haynes King, CB Chau Smith-Wade, LB Tyrel Dodson, OT Albert Reese, DT Bobby Brown
Falcons: QB Tua Tagovailoa, QB Michael Penix, DB Billy Bowman, DB Malcolm DeWalt, OL Ethan Onianwa
Saints at Ravens
Saints: RB Kendre Miler, QB Zach Wilson, DB Decamerion Richardson, LB Isaiah Stalbird, DL Christen Miller, OL Mason Murphy, DL John Ridgeway
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, WR Zay Flowers, G Andrew Vorhees, OT Gerad Lichtenhan, LB Teddye Buchanan, DL Nnamdi Madubuike
Vikings at Bears
Vikings: QB Kyler Murray, WR Jauan Jennings, DB Zemaiah Vaughn, DB Jakobe Thomas, OL Nick Samac, OL Caleb Tiernan, DL Elijah Williams
Bears: QB Case Keenum, DE Jamree Kromah, DT Jayden Loving, OT Ozzy Trapilo, OL Jordan McFadden
Steelers at Patriots
Steelers: CB Joey Porter Jr., WR Michael Pittman Jr., QB Drew Allar, QB Will Howard, G Gennings Dunker, DT Kevin Jobity, DT Gabriel Rubio
Patriots: CB Carlton Davis, OT Dametrious Crownover, OT Walter Rouse, TE Tanner Arkin, DL Leonard Taylor, QB Behren Morton
Packers at Jets
Packers: CB Benjamin St-Juste, OL John Williams, OL Travis Glover, DT Warren Brinson, DT Javon Hargrave
Jets: CB D’Angelo Ponds, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, K Blake Grupe, RB Kene Nwangwu, LB Joseph Ossai, LB Trevin Wallace
Browns at Buccaneers
Browns: QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, S Daniel Thomas, CB Toriano Pride, C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins
Buccaneers: CB Ayden Garnes, CB Jacob Parrish, G Luke Haggard, G Billy Schrauth, DL DeMonte Capehart, DL Elijah Simmons
Eagles at Titans
Eagles: QB Tanner McKee, QB Cole Payton, WR Elijah Moore, LB Jonathan Greenard, G Micah Morris
Titans: CB Cor’Dale Flott, LB James Williams, OL Atonio Mafi, OL Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Kylen Granson, DT Jackie Marshall
Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. will miss his second straight game on Sunday and his outlook for Week 3 remains uncertain as well.
The plan was for Porter to ramp up his workload this week, but he had to leave practice early on Thursday after his back flared up and he was ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Patriots. Porter is also working on his conditioning after spending all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Steelers are targeting Week 3’s game against the Bengals for his 2026 debut, but that Porter is considering a second opinion on his back. All of this is playing out against the backdrop of Porter’s desire for a new contract that the Steelers aren’t expected to discuss given their longstanding policy of not negotiating during the season.
That impasse has led to speculation about a trade, although nothing appears imminent with Week 2 about to get underway. Should Porter remain out as the trade deadline draws closer, things could change on that front.
Last Sunday, coach Mike McCarthy won in his Pittsburgh debut. (The 20-13 game easily could have gone the other way.) With a win at New England on Sunday, McCarthy will be the fourth coach in Steelers history to start his tenure with the team at 2-0.
Via NBC Sports research, the others were Mike Tomlin in 2007, Bill Cowher in 1992, and Johnny Blood in 1937, when the team was known as the Pirates.
On the flip side, the Patriots hope to avoid starting 0-2 for the second time in 20 seasons. It last happened in 2023, to start Bill Belichick’s final run in New England.
A loss would make the Patriots the fifth Super Bowl participant since 2000 to start 0-2 the next year. It also happened to the 2025 Chiefs, the 2022 Bengals, the 2015 Seahawks, and the 2022 Rams. (Both the 2022 Bengals and 2015 Seahawks recovered to make the playoffs.)
Is it a “must” win for New England? With trips to Jacksonville and Buffalo on deck, it very well could be.
The Steelers will head to New England for a Week 2 game without receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
Pittman has been downgraded to out, with a foot injury.
He had been listed as questionable. Pittman was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday. He didn’t practice on Thursday or Friday.
The downgrade is a common move for road teams. If the player isn’t going to play, he doesn’t travel. When he doesn’t travel, he gets ruled out.
Last week against the Falcons, Pittman caught three passes on three targets, for 58 yards in his Steelers debut. He had been traded by the Colts after Indy re-signed receiver Alec Pierce to a deal that pays $29 million per year.
Based on the Steelers’ online depth chart, Germie Bernard steps into Pittman’s role. His absence will could mean for opportunities for the likes of DK Metcalf and Roman Wilson in Pittsburgh’s offense.
Friday’s deep dive from ESPN into the far-simpler-than-it-seems contract issue between the Steelers and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. included a contention that the team has not received any “serious inquiries” regarding a trade. As one source put it in response, the Steelers could be trying to prevent a trade market from materializing.
We’re told that at least one team has called the Steelers about Porter. Whether that qualifies as a “serious inquiry” is a matter of interpretation.
The Steelers apparently want to keep Porter, for now. If they start actively negotiating a trade, the situation could take on a life of its own and quickly become an inevitability. (A fait accompli, if you’re feeling fancy.)
The issue for now, as we understand it, is that the Steelers want a lot. We’re told it’s in the neighborhood of a first-round pick or a second-round pick, plus a third-round pick.
And here’s where the dog starts chasing its tail. If the Steelers will apply that kind of value to Porter in a trade, why won’t they offer him a contract that he’ll take?
The threshold impediment continues to be the outdated internal rule that no new deals will be done after the regular season starts. That doesn’t matter unless and until the two sides are close. They still aren’t.
The trade deadline arrives in 52 days. This looks like it will keep unfolding one week at a time, until the Steelers decide to pay Porter or to allow the inquiry (or inquiries) to become “serious.”
It can happen quickly. Last year, the Cowboys abruptly decided to trade linebacker Micah Parsons after realizing that he fully intended to not play in 2025, due to a back issue, until he got the contract he wanted. Through two weeks, Porter is implementing that same approach.
The options are few. Pay him, trade him, play hardball in the hopes of getting him to blink, or do nothing — and pay him a weekly game check to not play.
The best play in the end may be to throw the door open to any and all interested teams, and to take the best offer they get.
As the contract impasse lingers between the Steelers and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., none of the other 31 teams has made a move to try to get him.
A lengthy article from ESPN exploring the dynamics of the situation contains this key line: "[T]he team has neither made nor received any serious inquiries about the cornerback.”
Given that it’s been obvious for weeks that Porter and the Steelers aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on a potential extension, interested teams have had every reason to spark a dialogue. The absence of any such effort suggests that no one is willing to pay Porter what he wants and to give the Steelers what they’d need.
ESPN also points to two primary issues with the negotiations. One, the two sides have a “significant difference” about Porter’s value. Two, Porter wants the team to break from its habit of fully guaranteeing compensation beyond the first year of the contract.
The Steelers historically had done that only for high-end quarterbacks, like Ben Roethlisberger. As noted by ESPN, they broke from that precedent with linebacker T.J. Watt, twice.
As not noted by ESPN, they also deviated from this habit when trading for, and signing, receiver DK Metcalf in 2025; he got $60 million fully guaranteed over the first two years.
While cash-flow concerns possibly will keep the Steelers from expanding the practice to a player who won’t be paid at the top of the market, the bigger issue seems to be the value of the contract.
Either way, the team’s other internal rule regarding not doing new deals after the season begins has put everyone in an awkward spot. As noted by Steelers Depot, the team made an exception in 1995 for safety Darren Perry. At the time, the explanation from Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was that “if they were close to a deal that would carry it over to the early part of the season.”
In this case, they could try something like “we’ll do a deal before the first game of the season in which the player plays.”
Semantics don’t matter, since no deal is close. And it’s possible Porter will continue to not play until the Steelers trade him for whatever they can get.
As an unnamed “source with knowledge of the situation” told ESPN, “I don’t know if he ever puts on a Steelers uniform again.”
For now, he won’t put on a uniform for the second game of the 2026 season. With no end to the standoff in sight, it could continue on a weekly basis until he’s traded or the Steelers decide to play hardball by fining him for refusing to play.
Any hopes that cornerback Joey Porter Jr. would be in the Steelers’ lineup for Sunday’s game against the Patriots came to an end on Friday afternoon.
Porter has been ruled out for the second straight week. Head coach Mike McCarthy said on Thursday that the team expected Porter to do more work in practice, but he wound up leaving the session early and was limited again on Friday.
Porter is listed with both a back injury and conditioning as reasons why he won’t play. He did not practice at all during training camp because he was on the physically unable to perform list and his ongoing contract impasse with the team has led to reports that he could be traded at some point during the season.
Wide receiver Michael Pittman (foot) missed his second straight practice, but the door is open for him to play after getting a questionable tag on the final report. Left tackle Troy Fautanu (ankle) was a limited participant and joins Pittman in the questionable category.
The Patriots won’t have wide receiver A.J. Brown for Sunday’s game against the Steelers, but it looks like they will have running back TreVeyon Henderson.
Henderson did not play in Week 1 because of an ankle injury he suffered during training camp. He was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, however, and he told reporters that he’s set to get back in the lineup as well.
“I’m ready to go,” Henderson said, via multiple reporters.
Henderson ran 180 times for 911 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie. His return won’t make up for losing Brown, but adding him back into the offense should make it a little easier for the Patriots to stomach life without their top wideout.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters earlier on Thursday that cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was scheduled to do more at practice than he did on Wednesday.
But things have changed.
According to multiple reporters on the scene, Porter exited practice with a trainer during the portion of the session open to media.
Porter went through the team stretch and some individual drills before exiting the session.
On Wednesday, Porter was listed as limited — but not for the back injury he was limited with last week. Instead, he was listed on Wednesday as non-injury-related/conditioning.
Reporters note that there was no further update immediately available from the Steelers on Porter as he left practice.
