Porter's presence key for Chicago Bears' young secondary

Veteran cornerback Tracy Porter's presence has been vitally important to the Chicago Bears, providing a steadying influence on a kiddie corps secondary and durability on a team that has had enough injuries to overflow an emergency room.

Nine of the 12 defensive backs on the Bears' 53-man roster are 25 or younger, including seven 23 or younger. There aren't enough coaches to counsel all of them all of the time. That's where Porter's nine years' experience often comes in.

"It's funny you ask (about Porter) because I was just watching practice today and he was over there talking to our young safety, (rookie) Deon Bush," coach John Fox said Friday. "He's been great; he's been great for the room.

"He's very veteran as far as how he looks at tape, what he looks at, whether it's formations, receiver locations, his indicators for what type of pass principle the offense might run.

"He's been basically a coach in that meeting room and a coach on the field for those young guys."

While Porter also has been on the weekly injury report more often than not with a knee problem, he has started every game, and only two Bears have played more snaps than Porter's 574. His 2 interceptions are tops on the team, as are his 7 pass breakups.

"He's had a good year," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "He's fought through some injuries to accomplish that, and he's been a good influence on the young DBs."

Porter frequently is tasked with covering the opponent's best wide receiver, and he has helped a banged-up unit to the No. 10 ranking in total yards allowed.

"He's just been pretty solid in his play no matter what we've assigned him to," Fangio said. "Sometimes we match him up (with the opponent's go-to wideout), and he's responded."

Despite Porter's best efforts, the Bears limp into Sunday's match with the Tennessee Titans at 2-8, having long since waived bye-bye to any realistic playoff chances.

"It just seems like bad things have continued to pile up on us," Porter said. "But that's where the veteran leadership has to come in. We have to weather that storm, and we have to keep pushing through.

"As far as I'm concerned, no one in this locker room has given up. No one is throwing in the towel. We're going to continue to come out here and fight."

After his 2015 season with the Bears - his fifth team in as many seasons - Porter earned a three-year, $12 million deal. He started 13 games, only the second time in eight seasons that he has been healthy enough to do that, and he led the Bears by a whopping margin with 22 pass breakups.

He and everyone else were counting on taking a step forward from last year's 6-10 record, but that's unlikely to happen. Not with 14 players on injured reserve and an additional 18 making this week's injury report.

"Being 2-8 is tough all in its own," Porter said. "It's something we didn't plan for, but these are the cards that we're dealt. I have to step my game up another level, step my leadership role up another level to help fill that void."

According to Fangio, Porter is well-equipped to handle that responsibility.

"More than his demeanor is his football intelligence, his football IQ," Fangio said. "He's got a good wealth of that, and he's able to share it and communicate it with the others."

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