Tracy Porter (22) exits the locker room onto the field prior to a game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. (Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports)
For the first time since week 5 when the Denver Broncos lost to the New England Patriots, cornerback Tracy Porter was in the active lineup against the Cleveland Browns.
Porter had a seizure during training camp in August and was being monitored closely before having similar seizure-related symptoms prior to the team’s departure for San Diego in week 6.
Since then, Chris Harris and Tony Carter had done a nice job of filling in for Porter while he got his symptoms under control. In fact, Harris did so well that the team decided to keep him in the starting lineup Sunday even though Porter was dressed to play.
The team put Carter on the inactive list prior to the game, presumably because he gave up a couple of big plays against the Baltimore Ravens last week.
“He missed a long time,” John Fox said of Porter. “In professional athletics, it takes a while to get back to the top of your game. He hit that point this week and we activated him.”
Life was looking up for Porter. Life was looking up until his first tackle in the first quarter against the Browns.
Porter staggered to his feet and ran awkwardly toward the sideline. After being taken to the locker room for further evaluation, the team ruled him out with a concussion of all things.
“He was down,” Fox said. “It was a pretty hard collision, something I was kind of crossing my fingers for. It didn’t work out, but he’ll battle back. He battled back from his last situation and I’m sure he’ll battle back from this.”
The question is will he battle back in time for the playoffs. If not, the Broncos may think about releasing him at the end of the season.
Omar Boldin filled in for Porter in the nickel package, and had 3 tackles.
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