The Pittsburgh Steelers will be facing the New England Patriots in Week 2, and they'll once again be without Joey Porter Jr. The cornerback was ruled out once again as he works his way back from a back injury he's had since the offseason, but it seems like he's been making progress over the past two weeks.

Porter was able to practice this week, but he did individual drills instead. Once he's fully participating with the team, that should give the green light on when he's ready to get back on the field. On the final day of practice, Porter was seen at the facility, according to Mark Kaboly.

“Joey Porter Jr was at the team facility today. The team only had a walk-through today, but the injury report will come out later,” Kaboly wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

It has been a strange month and offseason for Porter because even though he's dealing with a back injury, he also has been in trade rumors since the Steelers didn't give him an extension before the start of the season. Instead, they would rather work something out after the season, but there's no telling if he'll be on the team by that point.

There seem to be teams willing to make a trade for him, but they also know they'll have to pay him. There's no doubt that Porter is worth the money after how he's performed over the years, and he's the Steelers' best cornerback.

As of now, the Steelers' main goal is to make sure he's healthy so he can play, and he may be close to returning. At the same time, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was dragging things out a little longer just because he hasn't gotten an extension.