All-Pro LB injured in shooting

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers tried to put on the appearance that Monday was like any other day of practice. Obviously, it wasn't.

Players huddled in groups of two and three in the locker room, talking quietly, the verbal by-play that normally precedes every practice noticeably absent. There was no laughter, no cross-the-room yelling about the past weekend's college scores. Clearly, someone was missing -- someone important.

No one went near Joey Porter's locker, often the gathering spot for the defense and the noisiest area in an almost never quiet room. The Steelers know the All-Pro linebacker and their vocal leader will play again but they don't know when, and they are still struggling with the news that he was shot over the weekend.

"It was a tragic incident," Pro Bowl receiver Hines Ward said. "We're handling it as it comes and hopefully get a better chance of understanding it when Joey gets back."

Porter was standing outside a Denver sports bar following Saturday night's game between his alma mater, Colorado State, and rival Colorado when he was struck by a bullet that entered his left buttocks and lodged in his right thigh. Police say he was an innocent bystander during what may have been a gang-related shooting.

The injury is not career-threatening, but will sideline him for an indefinite period. Porter was released Monday from a Denver hospital and flew back to Pittsburgh to be examined by the Steelers' doctors.

"He was very frightened," said Sonny Lubick, Porter's coach at Colorado State. "It could have been a lot worse. According to the doctors he was very, very fortunate."