Team ready to play for Porter

The All-Pro linebacker was released from a Denver hospital Monday.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans was preparing to return to Pittsburgh when teammate Joey Porter gave him a message from his hospital bed in Denver.
"He told me to just go out and play hard," Haggans said. "He said we've got to move forward. He's upset about everything, but he's really into the upcoming game and he wants everybody to play hard."
After going through training camp without a serious injury to a top player, Porter's shooting injury is forcing the Steelers to reconfigure their defense less than a week before Sunday's opener against Baltimore.
The incident
Porter was standing outside a Denver sports bar following Saturday night's game between 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 All-Pro linebacker will be replaced at right outside linebacker in the base defense by Haggans, his former roommate and teammate at Colorado State. James Farrior, a starting inside linebacker, will replace Porter in the dime defense.
"Losing a guy like Joey, that's a huge blow to our defense, but I think the defense is going to rally around this," wide receiver Hines Ward said Monday. "You can't replace a Joey Porter, of course, but Clark can go out there and be a productive linebacker. I thought he had a great training camp."
For now, the Steelers are uncertain how long they will be without their best defensive player and the vocal leader of their defense.
Even though the injury could have been much worse, the bullet traveled from Porter's buttocks to his right thigh, which could slow his recovery. Porter was released Monday from a Denver hospital and flew back to Pittsburgh to be examined by the Steelers' doctors.
The Steelers aren't ready to estimate how long Porter will be out. However, routine thigh injuries often take up to a month to heal, so it seems likely Porter could miss half the season.
"It was a tragic incident," Ward said. "We're handling it as it comes and hopefully get a better chance of understanding it when Joey gets back."
Because of the mishap, coach Bill Cowher gathered his players briefly before practice Monday and stressed the importance of staying out of situations that could jeopardize their safety. The bar where Porter was shot is located in a high-crime area of Denver.
Disruption
"This is the last thing you would expect to be handling right now, but the season is going to go on," linebacker Jason Gildon said. "We're expecting big things out of our defense and our team, and we can't let this be a step back for us."
Haggans also attended the Colorado State-Colorado game, but would not say if he was with Porter at the time of the shooting.
This isn't the first time the Steelers have lost their top defensive player to injury just when a season was starting. Cornerback Rod Woodson blew out a knee trying to tackle Detroit's Barry Sanders in the 1995 season opener and missed the rest of the season, but the Steelers went on to make the Super Bowl.
"Right now, we're short a man and we're going to have to step up across the board," Gildon said. "We're down a man, a key man, and it's like we have no room for error."
Porter made the Pro Bowl and was an All-Pro for the first time last season, when he and Ward were chosen as the team's co-MVPs. Porter was the first player in NFL history to have eight sacks and four interceptions in a season.