The starters against Houston were Jason David and Randall Gay, but Gay strained his triceps and had to leave the game. Fellow cornerback Usama Young pulled his hamstring.
As a result, Porter ended up seeing significant playing time from late in the first quarter on.
"He did OK," head coach Sean Payton said of Porter's performance. "There were some effort plays that bothered us that he needs to clean up. There was a third down shallow cross where he lost his guy across the field. He's now put a couple of weeks of practice under his belt ... and we'll give him plenty of snaps, and also as a returner."
Having run 40 yards in 4.37 seconds at the NFL combine, the five-foot-11, 185-pound Porter has the speed the Saints are looking for in a defensive back.
He also could emerge as a kick and punt returner for the Saints, having returned two of each for touchdowns in his senior year at Indiana.
Porter had six interceptions for the Hoosiers last season. His 16 career interceptions rank second at Indiana.
Porter became a defensive captain at Indiana after joining a squad that, like the Saints, had taken a lot of criticism for giving up too many big passing plays.
"We did a great job of coming together, developing chemistry and we certainly changed that around, so I don't see why we can't do that here," Porter said.
Porter said he does not want to read too much into the fact that he's been working with the first team lately. He's not even sure whether he'll start in Cincinnati.
Rookie cornerback Tracy Porter getting chances with New
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