Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2016 5:06:21 GMT -6
Despite nagging knee injury, Tracy Porter a rock in Bears secondary
Brad Biggs Contact Reporter
For a defense that has had an inconsistent pass rush and a combination of injury- and performance-related personnel changes in the secondary, it's hard to imagine where the Bears would be without cornerback Tracy Porter.
"Oh, boy," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said as he let out a sigh and chose not to ponder the possibility.
A nagging knee injury has made Porter questionable on the injury report for the last six games, but he has been on the field for 91 percent of the defensive snaps and hasn't missed a game. Porter has been limited in 12 practices and missed three and it's a grind for a nine-year veteran to get to Sundays, when he frequently has been matched up against the opponent's top wide receiver.
Chances are good Porter will be assigned to follow the Buccaneers' Mike Evans on Sunday. He has had a matchup assignment in six of the eight games, following receivers like Jordy Nelson and Dez Bryant with success. It's something Fangio rarely asked a cornerback to do in the past but started doing last season because of what he says is a drop-off from Porter to the opposite cornerback, which has been a rotating mix of players.
It would be a surprise if the Bears didn't have Porter trail Evans, a 6-foot-5, 231-pound playmaker who leads the NFL with eight touchdown receptions, is tied for fourth with 55 receptions and is fifth with 745 receiving yards.
After a week off, Porter, 30, is refreshed. He has had fluid drained from his knee on game day more than once this season and has battled hamstring issues in the past. That's why he regularly has a trainer stretching him before practice, making sure he is loose and ready to go.
"That's all precautionary," Porter said. "I've had hamstring injuries in the past and I am trying to take every precaution I can so that old injuries don't reoccur and new ones don't come either. Sunday is the easy part. It's getting up to Sunday that is the most difficult part. You're getting the body prepared knowing you are going to break it down on Sunday and then you have to start that process all over again on Monday. It's an ongoing thing."
When Porter arrived in the summer of 2015, he did so with a tag of being injury-prone. He had missed 13 games in 2014 with the Redskins because of hamstring and shoulder injuries. He missed 10 games playing for John Fox in Denver in 2012 and missed 21 games in his first four seasons with the Saints.
But after a bad hamstring injury in training camp kept him out of the first two games last season, Porter has been a rock for Fangio and secondary coach Ed Donatell, an absolute necessity this season with the Bears going with rookies and second-year players paired with Porter.
"He's just got that dog in him to be out there," rookie nickel back Cre'Von LeBlanc said.
Porter laughed at the idea of knowing as a rookie what he knows now when it comes to maintenance of the body to handle the rigors of the game. Not that long ago he was one of the younger cornerbacks at his previous stops. But now he knows his coaches and teammates are counting on him.
"My value now is more than what it was," he said. "I know how critical it is. Even when you think you are healthy, go do something. You can't go wrong with doing something just be to proactive."
Despite all the youth in the secondary, the Bears rank third in the league allowing only 4.2 yards after the catch per reception. That's a credit to the defensive backs being in the right place; something Porter plays a role in.
"He's been our connection to the players," Donatell said. "It's a very young group other than him. He's invaluable to us. We lean on him. He's an extra teacher in the group."
Porter enjoys the challenge of traveling from side to side against the better receivers the Bears encounter. That's in contrast to Redskins cornerback Josh Norman, who loudly balked at the suggestion he should shadow receivers like Bryant earlier in the season.
"Any competitor at this level would love the challenge of going against the team's No. 1 guy, the guy they love to get the ball to," Porter said. "For the coaches to have that much faith in me ... I love it. I'm not afraid to go against any guy."
Porter doesn't make much of the knee injury and says it "comes and goes."
"You are not going to have a season and not have something that isn't lingering on you," he said.
He was able to get home to Baton Rouge, La., during the week off, getting a break from the Halas Hall training room.
"I got to take my kids to school," he said. "That was my rehab, being a dad."
And that will make it easier to get to Sunday this week against another top receiver.
bmbiggs@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @bradbiggs
Brad Biggs Contact Reporter
For a defense that has had an inconsistent pass rush and a combination of injury- and performance-related personnel changes in the secondary, it's hard to imagine where the Bears would be without cornerback Tracy Porter.
"Oh, boy," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said as he let out a sigh and chose not to ponder the possibility.
A nagging knee injury has made Porter questionable on the injury report for the last six games, but he has been on the field for 91 percent of the defensive snaps and hasn't missed a game. Porter has been limited in 12 practices and missed three and it's a grind for a nine-year veteran to get to Sundays, when he frequently has been matched up against the opponent's top wide receiver.
Chances are good Porter will be assigned to follow the Buccaneers' Mike Evans on Sunday. He has had a matchup assignment in six of the eight games, following receivers like Jordy Nelson and Dez Bryant with success. It's something Fangio rarely asked a cornerback to do in the past but started doing last season because of what he says is a drop-off from Porter to the opposite cornerback, which has been a rotating mix of players.
It would be a surprise if the Bears didn't have Porter trail Evans, a 6-foot-5, 231-pound playmaker who leads the NFL with eight touchdown receptions, is tied for fourth with 55 receptions and is fifth with 745 receiving yards.
After a week off, Porter, 30, is refreshed. He has had fluid drained from his knee on game day more than once this season and has battled hamstring issues in the past. That's why he regularly has a trainer stretching him before practice, making sure he is loose and ready to go.
"That's all precautionary," Porter said. "I've had hamstring injuries in the past and I am trying to take every precaution I can so that old injuries don't reoccur and new ones don't come either. Sunday is the easy part. It's getting up to Sunday that is the most difficult part. You're getting the body prepared knowing you are going to break it down on Sunday and then you have to start that process all over again on Monday. It's an ongoing thing."
When Porter arrived in the summer of 2015, he did so with a tag of being injury-prone. He had missed 13 games in 2014 with the Redskins because of hamstring and shoulder injuries. He missed 10 games playing for John Fox in Denver in 2012 and missed 21 games in his first four seasons with the Saints.
But after a bad hamstring injury in training camp kept him out of the first two games last season, Porter has been a rock for Fangio and secondary coach Ed Donatell, an absolute necessity this season with the Bears going with rookies and second-year players paired with Porter.
"He's just got that dog in him to be out there," rookie nickel back Cre'Von LeBlanc said.
Porter laughed at the idea of knowing as a rookie what he knows now when it comes to maintenance of the body to handle the rigors of the game. Not that long ago he was one of the younger cornerbacks at his previous stops. But now he knows his coaches and teammates are counting on him.
"My value now is more than what it was," he said. "I know how critical it is. Even when you think you are healthy, go do something. You can't go wrong with doing something just be to proactive."
Despite all the youth in the secondary, the Bears rank third in the league allowing only 4.2 yards after the catch per reception. That's a credit to the defensive backs being in the right place; something Porter plays a role in.
"He's been our connection to the players," Donatell said. "It's a very young group other than him. He's invaluable to us. We lean on him. He's an extra teacher in the group."
Porter enjoys the challenge of traveling from side to side against the better receivers the Bears encounter. That's in contrast to Redskins cornerback Josh Norman, who loudly balked at the suggestion he should shadow receivers like Bryant earlier in the season.
"Any competitor at this level would love the challenge of going against the team's No. 1 guy, the guy they love to get the ball to," Porter said. "For the coaches to have that much faith in me ... I love it. I'm not afraid to go against any guy."
Porter doesn't make much of the knee injury and says it "comes and goes."
"You are not going to have a season and not have something that isn't lingering on you," he said.
He was able to get home to Baton Rouge, La., during the week off, getting a break from the Halas Hall training room.
"I got to take my kids to school," he said. "That was my rehab, being a dad."
And that will make it easier to get to Sunday this week against another top receiver.
bmbiggs@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @bradbiggs
