The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t practice on Monday, but they still managed to send a loud message about cornerback Joey Porter Jr.’s status ahead of Thursday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns. The estimated injury report the team released Monday evening listed Porter as a full participant for the first time this entire season, a designation that puts the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the fourth-year corner.

Porter participating in warm-ups before the estimated report dropped

Porter was seen participating in warm-ups during Monday’s walkthrough session as the Steelers ramped up preparation for Cleveland. That alone was noteworthy, but what happened hours later carried far more weight.

Because Pittsburgh didn’t hold a traditional practice, the team issued an estimated injury report based on what participation would have looked like on a normal Wednesday. Porter’s full-participant tag stands out, but there is a critical caveat. The difference between an estimated report and a real one is massive. The Steelers don’t have to be totally accurate on an estimate because they didn’t actually practice.

Tuesday and Wednesday will reveal the truth

So the question becomes: what happens when the real injury reports drop on Tuesday and Wednesday?

If Porter goes from full to limited on either of those days, that tells you everything you need to know about his actual availability for Thursday night. But if he remains a full participant on Tuesday, stays full on Wednesday, and then does not play against the Browns, the Steelers are telling you to your face that Porter is sitting out games against their wishes.

Not that Pittsburgh hasn’t been dancing around that possibility already. The team has been beating around the bush for weeks, whether it was listing Porter with a back injury, then removing the designation and calling it conditioning-related, then putting the back injury back on the report and taking it off again. The back-and-forth has been going on for a while now.

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What listing Porter as full really means

By listing Porter as a full participant on Monday’s estimated report, the Steelers are communicating that they believe he is ready to go. They are putting the onus on him to be out there Thursday night against Cleveland.

If Porter is full all week and doesn’t suit up, there could be some drastic changes coming to the way the Pittsburgh Steelers and their young cornerback see things going forward. The situation between Porter and the organization has been simmering, and a no-show on Thursday after three consecutive full-participation designations would almost certainly escalate it.

The next two days of practice will tell us everything we need to know.