How's Steelers CB Porter Preparing for St. Brown?

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail, and Pittsburgh Steelers corner Joey Porter Jr. has no intent of falling short on Saturday when he visits the Detroit Lions on Saturday.

Should the Lions play their starters, star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown likely will be among them, ready to dominate for the few snaps he’ll be asked to play. It will be on Porter to stop him.

As such, Porter is preparing for the elite talent he’s expected to face on a weekly basis.

He spoke about his approach to the preseason and what it means to play against one of the league’s best ahead of the exhibition.

“Yeah, definitely, I’ve been knowing (about) him for a long time, (from) where he played at in high school (Mater Dei), so I’ve always been a fan of his game,” Porter said, via MLive .

“Just trying to get that deep dive in with these guys, even though it’s not a regular season (game), just trying to get that regular-season feel. So yeah, that’s the approach we’ve been taking.”

There’s no guarantee Porter’s work pays off on Saturday. St. Brown may not play, the game script may render their matchup fruitless, and it obviously won’t count. But treating the week’s assignment like it’s a regular-season matchup lends itself to continuity once the bullets really do start flying.

Porter will have no shortage of difficult matchups this year. In Week 1, he’ll have the privilege of playing Atlanta Falcons receiver Drake London, who now has the best quarterback play of his career. The same can be said for New York Jets star Garrett Wilson in Week 7. From CeeDee Lamb to Malik Nabers to A.J. Brown and the stars that make up the AFC North, Porter’s work is cut out for him.

That’s life as a No. 1 corner in the NFL – the path Porter was expected to take as the first pick in the second round and what he took important strides toward as a rookie.

“I’ve been doing that in college, just because of the talent I had to face there. You couldn’t go into those games unprepared,” Porter said. “I definitely feel like I’ve stepped it up a notch from college to the NFL, especially being around more vets who give me insight on how to really watch film.”

Related: 'Worth the Show!' Queen Confident in Steelers Offense

With so many questions on the other side of the ball, Pittsburgh’s strong defense has all but been penciled in. Porter’s development is an underrated part of that, and a necessary jump if the Steelers defense is going to confidently pick up the slack of a questionable offense.