Friday, September 12, 2003

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Joey Porter was standing at his locker, telling reporters why he was disappointed he has been ruled out of the Steelers' game Sunday in Kansas City, when coach Bill Cowher walked by and yelled into the scrum, "Judge, jury and verdict."

Porter, who is recovering from a gunshot wound that kept him out of the season opener, wanted to return to his outside linebacker spot against the Chiefs. But Cowher, preferring not to risk further damage to the wounds where the bullet entered and was removed, told Porter yesterday morning he would not play in Kansas City.

"I saw him working [Wednesday] night, he was getting his hopes up, and I didn't want to mislead him," Cowher said, explaining his decision. "The way he is right now, he isn't real happy about the decision."

Cowher made the decision to downgrade Porter from doubtful to out on the injury report after consulting with Dr. Jim Bradley, the team's orthopedic surgeon who removed the 9 mm bullet from Porter's thigh.

Porter did running drills for the second day in a row and will have another magnetic resonance imaging on his right thigh. In all likelihood, he will return for next week's game in Cincinnati.

"He's got the final decision," Porter said. "He makes the decision on who's going to play and who's not. It was probably for my best interests."

After Cowher walked by, Porter smiled and said, "You can't argue with the head man. It's a dictatorship."

Then he added: "Whenever you feel like you can go out and play, it's disappointing. But he's looking out for my best interests. Why take a chance this early for another setback? It's not like I'm missing half the season. As long as I get back out there and play the way I can play."

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