Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. takes down the Browns tight end David Njoku in the third quarter on Dec. 8, 2024, at Acrisure Stadium. ( Chaz Palla | Triblive)
Friday’s “First Call” tries to read the tea leaves on Joey Porter Jr. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a fan in the new Seattle Seahawks owner.
The Pirates head into St. Louis looking to make up ground in the National League wild card race. And former Pirate Gerrit Cole can’t complete the job in New York against the Houston Astros.
Promising news on Peezy?
As Steelers fans wait for Joey Porter Jr. to get back on the field, head coach Mike McCarthy provided a minor update after the team’s 28-27 preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.
Via TribLive’s Chris Adamski, McCarthy said that the fourth-year cornerback from Penn State “had an excellent workout” in Pittsburgh on Thursday. However, he didn’t provide any more details on what the Steelers plan to do with him before the roster is cut down on Sunday.
Mike McCarthy says Joey Porter Jr “had an excellent workout today” back in Pittsburgh But does not elaborate on his contract situation pic.twitter.com/oz2bvWE0qy
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) August 28, 2026
Porter is still on the PUP list with a “back injury.” McCarthy previously referred to Porter’s absence as “business”-related, as he searches for a contract extension from the team.
If Porter remains on the PUP list through roster cutdown day on Sunday, he’d have to miss the first four weeks of the season.
Thanks for the shout ‘aht
The new owner of the Seattle Seahawks raised some eyebrows at his opening press conference by professing his love for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Vinod Khosla revealed that he arrived in America in 1976, at the height of the Steel Curtain’s dominance, and has been a fan ever since. He says he still watches Pittsburgh’s games.
Given the resentment most Seattle fans still carry from Super Bowl XL, I’m sure that went over great.
What not to do during your opening press conference as the new Seahawks owner?
Reveal you've been a Steelers fan your whole life and still watch all of their games
pic.twitter.com/Jx6wPTxsh5
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 27, 2026
I wonder if this guy thought Darrell Jackson pushed off on Chris Hope?
NFL owners approved the Seahawks’ sale to the Khosla family earlier this week for a reported NFL record price of $9.612 billion.
Khosla is a venture capitalist who co-founded Sun Microsystems in the 1980s. He later created Khosla Ventures. Forbes estimates his net worth at $13.3 billion.
Stopping the slide
The St. Louis Cardinals halted their losing streak just before welcoming the Pirates for three games this weekend. They beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-5 on Thursday.
Ramon Urias provided a two-run homer during the victory. It was his third of the year.
Ramón Urías sends a two-run shot into the bleachers! ???? pic.twitter.com/AMB5mvtbUt
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 27, 2026
The Cardinals had dropped five in a row before that win.
The Pirates come into the series 65-70. St. Louis is two games better at 67-68. The San Diego Padres currently own the final wild card spot in the National League at 72-62. That’s 5 ½ in front of the Cardinals and 7 ½ better than the Bucs.
Jared Jones (2-5, 4.76 ERA) is slated to open the series for the Pirates Friday at 8:15 p.m. against Quinn Matthews. The Pirates have lost six starts in a row with Jones on the mound. The last time they recorded a win with him pitching was when Jones picked up a 7-1 victory in Cleveland on July 18.
The left-handed Matthews is making his fourth start of the year. He is 0-2 with an ERA of 6.43. His Major League debut was Aug. 1.
So much for that
Former Pirate Gerrit Cole had a really good start going for the New York Yankees Thursday night.
Until he didn’t.
Cole and the Yankees were down 1-0 in the sixth. The ex-Bucs right-hander had allowed just one earned run, hadn’t walked anyone and had yielded only three hits.
Then he walked Daulton Varsho with two outs and gave up a home run to Christian Walker.
Christian Walker extends the @Astros lead with a 2-run homer! pic.twitter.com/GbohOV3IgK
— MLB (@MLB) August 28, 2026
The Astros won 5-1. Cole gave up three earned runs in those six innings. His ERA in his return season from Tommy John surgery is at 3.19. He is 7-7 on the year.
New York (75-58) trails Tampa Bay (79-54) by four games in the American League East. They also lead the wild card race over Boston by two games. Houston is 67-67 and leads the American League West.