Less than 24 hours after being traded to the Dallas Cowboys from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Joey Porter passed his physical and was on the practice field with his new team.

It has yet to be determined if Porter will play in Sunday’s game at the Houston Texans.

He had missed the first three games of the season with the Steelers due to back issues that have allegedly plagued him since training camp as he was lobbying for a new contract.

Porter practiced full earlier in the week with the Steelers before complaining of back issues on Wednesday, seemingly prompting the trade to the Cowboys by a fed up Pittsburgh team.

He practiced in full pads with the Cowboys on Thursday and plans to play the season on the final year of his rookie deal as is with hopes of cashing in free agency with Dallas or another team.

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the plan to play Porter against the Houston Texans on Sunday, though he will likely be on a pitch count.

Porter said the back was not problem in practice.

“I’m feeling good,” Porter said. “I’ll talk to the guys. I mean, I just got here today, so we’re just trying to take things day by day. And if everything looks good, then we should be out there.”

Porter’s good feelings go beyond his health.

He is happy to get the drama over in Pittsburgh and excited to be with the Cowboys.

He was at the movies about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night when he got the news and stepped out to call his dad, Steelers legend Joey Porter Sr.

“Man, I was excited,” Porter said. “I’m not even going to lie. I was actually at the movies when I got the call, so I had to leave the movies and went home. But I mean, I was blessed. I was excited. I called my peoples and they was excited with me. So new chapter, new beginnings, and I’m ready.”

Porter didn’t get in any sleep. He hoped on a flight early Thursday morning and was at the Cowboys’ facility for the physical and practice.

He quickly reunited with two former Steelers who were traded to the Cowboys in the last year in receiver George Pickens and tackle Broderick Jones.

“They were just really embracing me with open arms,” Porter said. “They was like, ‘You’re going to love it here, the facility, the people, the food, the culture.’ So they accepted me with open arms and I’m excited about that.”

Porter was all smiles.

He is happy to get away from drama in Pittsburgh and happy to come to the Cowboys, a team his entire family grew up rooting for.

Porter said he felt undervalued by the Steelers, who didn’t meet his demands for a contract extension heading into the last year of his rookie deal.

He would rather play in Dallas without a new deal than in Pittsburgh because he always wanted to play for the Cowboys and he likes the talks they already had about the future. He is encouraged. But the bottom line is he said he is “betting on himself.”

“It was the value,” Porter said. “I didn’t feel like it was really that over there. [Dallas] is showing me that they value me more over here. That’s really all I need to show what I can do.”

Porter felt undervalued and disrespected in Pittsburgh:

“Definitely, definitely. It was a hard process, a lot of ups and down,” Porter said. “Definitely felt disrespected and undervalued. But that’s old news now. That’s how I look at it. I’m onto new beginnings and new chapters, that’s how I’m looking at it.”

He said he had been hearing rumors about the Cowboys being a possibility and is excited his dream came true.

“They always had talks about options about teams and here and there,” Porter said. “Cowboys was always one of them, but they always told me don’t get my hopes too high because I always wanted to be in Dallas. But once the talk started really rolling and I got the call, it was up from there.”

Why did you want to be in Dallas?

“Actually my whole family been Dallas fans our whole lives,” Porter said. Even my dad was a Dallas fan, my mom and everything. So this ain’t the first time we’re going to have stars in the house. So it was always something like that. But now that we’re actually here, they’re going to rep us pretty hard. So I’m excited about that.”

Suffice it to say, the Cowboys are just excited or maybe even more to have him on the team.

His presence in Dallas to solve to team’s secondary woes certainly put a smile on the face of defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who has been tracking Porter since his days in college at Penn State

Parker described Porter as being a “boundary eraser” in coverage.

“He certainly fits what we do and how we want to play,” Parker said. “When you have opportunities and I get asked about guys like that, it’s usually a yes. I’m always trying to add more good players.”

“He’s a high-level coverage player,” Parker added. “He plays at a great length. He has a lot of experience with a lot of high level receivers. You have evidence of how he does in that environment.”

“We’ll be able to add different packages together where certain guys are in different spots.”

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer credited owner Jerry Jones, vice president Stephen Jones and chief scout Will McClay for seeing a need and filling it with a great player.

He said the decision to add Porter had nothing to do with last Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

“Yeah, I think it’s a credit to, again, Jerry and Steven, Will McClay, the aggressiveness to go out and add really great players,” Schottenheimer said. “I’ve known him since his time at Penn State in terms of watching him play and a guy of that length and that size. And we love the physicality that he brings both as a coverage piece, but also as a guy that can fill runs and tackle and crack replace and things like that. So it made a lot of sense.

“We’re in a win now mindset,” Schottenheimer added. “That doesn’t change. Why? Well, Jerry’s 84. That’s one reason. Dak Prescott’s still playing at elite level. We’ve got some elite weapons on offense and the defense is getting better. And again, you add a player like this that, again, I’ve just had a ton of respect for the way he plays, the flexibility he gives you. You can do different things away from him because he’s so talented and the physicality that he brings is unique.”

Prescott came into the season talking about reaching the Super Bowl and is obviously disappointed in the 1-2 start. But the Cowboys say their hopes and dreams are still on the table. And is happy the front office feels the same way with the trade for Porter.

“To make a win-now trade, it means a lot,” Prescott said. “It just shows you that this whole organization is on the same page. You’re thankful when you got guys at the top, the owners, making those decisions and not waiting.”