'He's Different': Cowboys' Jerry Jones Sees Joey Porter Jr. As True Shut-Down Cornerback

In the Dallas Cowboys' comeback win over the Houston Texans in Week 4, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. made his season debut after being traded to Dallas from the Pittsburgh Steelers just days prior to kickoff.

Porter showed very little signs of the back issue that had kept him out of the Steelers' first three games. His expiring contract situation, however, is being pushed until later this offseason after the change of scenery.

Against the Texans, Porter played in about 46 percent of the Cowboys' defensive snaps and did not allow a single reception in his 19 snaps of man coverage.

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That extends his NFL-leading streak of 1,486 cover snaps without allowing a touchdown, according to NFL NextGen Stats. The next longest active streak is Philadelphia Eagles youngster Quinyon Mitchell at 617 snaps.

Porter played opposite of former Cowboys All-Pro DaRon Bland. The Texans rarely threw the ball in Porter's direction, instead choosing to pick on Bland with star wide receiver Nico Collins, who brought in 118 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Could Porter begin shadowing the opposing team's best receiver as he gets more comfortable in Christian Parker's defense?

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sees that as a possibility.

"The system allows for you to man up like that and isolate like that, and his coverage skills can dictate your thinking in that direction," Jones said Wednesday morning on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. "We can use him outside, teaming up on guys especially. That's what he brings to the table. In a manner of speaking, he's different. He really is.

"He's got some exceptional aspects to him, that's why we traded for him."

Parker first spoke of Porter as a "boundary-eraser" ... and that's nice and all, only if the other boundary is accounted for, too.

"We did a piss poor job of doing that," head coach Brian Schottenheimer spatted after rewatching film on the game in Houston.

When it comes to Porter shutting down teams' WR1s, Schottenheimer has a different viewpoint than his boss, at least for the time being, in how Porter should be used.

"We don't necessarily like to do that," Schottenheimer explained. "In reality, we're more of a field-boundary team. We can [move him around]. You wouldn't usually do that with someone that only been here ... less than a week.

"And that's part of our promise to Joey: We're not going to put you in a position where you're out there, and you don't know what to do because he's going to play hesitant."

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With the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming to town for Thursday Night Football, receivers Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin Jr. will need to be accounted for, along with the Bucs' leading receiver overall, tight end Cade Otton.

Porter, self-proclaiming himself as a "dog" after his Cowboys debut, is confident wherever and however he's used.

"I feel like there are no limits to what you could do with me on that football field," Porter said. "At the end of the day, I feel like I’m a ballplayer, and with that, I feel like I could go anywhere and do what I do."

"When a team gives you that ability to go out there and lock in on a No. 1 guy, that means they really trust you out there," Porter added. "Whenever I get that call, that’s an exciting task for me."