First Call: Joey Porter Jr.'s confidence for matchup with Courtland Sutton; Chargers changing travel for Week 3 in Pittsburgh

Thursday’s “First Call” shows us how the Los Angeles Chargers are already thinking ahead to their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3, even though they haven’t even gotten through planning for Week 2 versus Carolina.

Joey Porter Jr. is confident about his next wide receiver matchup in Denver. The Steelers’ new punter is all too familiar with Cameron Johnston’s pain.

And we look at a big challenge for the Pirates.

Round 2

Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was the player most responsible for covering Falcons wide receiver Drake London in the Steelers’ 18-10 victory Sunday during the season opener in Atlanta. Despite posting 1,771 yards in his first two seasons, London was held to just 15 yards on two catches Sunday.

This week, Porter said he’ll likely see Broncos’ receiver Courtland Sutton more than anyone else when the Steelers travel to Denver. Sutton had 10 touchdowns a season ago.

“That’s probably going to be the matchup,” Porter said. “It doesn’t really matter what kind of size wide receiver I’m going against. But he is a bigger type of wide receiver. It just makes sense that I would go against him and do what I do.”

Sutton is 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, nearly identical to London. Porter is 6-2, 193 pounds.

Porter’s teammate Donte Jackson said he only wound up guarding London a handful of times, usually when the Falcons hurried to the line of scrimmage and London wound up on his side of the field.

Should the Broncos employ this strategy at times this Sunday, Porter said he feels confident the Steelers can handle it.

“If they end up going tempo, me and (Jackson) feel totally comfortable staying on our side. If he ends up on (Sutton), I know (Jackson) is going to win. And I know if I end up on (Sutton) I’m going to win. It doesn’t matter which one of us gets No. 14, we just know that we believe in ourselves.”

Last week, rookie quarterback Bo Nix targeted Sutton 12 times, completing four passes for 38 yards.

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Already thinking Steelers

The Los Angeles Chargers already have their Week 3 matchup against the Steelers in mind, and we haven’t even gotten through Week 2 yet.

Jim Harbaugh’s team is playing in Charlotte against the Panthers on Sunday. Harbaugh has decided that he’d rather keep the team in the Eastern time zone as opposed to flying back to L.A. on Sunday evening, only to return to Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.

Therefore, the team will stay in Charlotte to prepare for that game.

“I think it’s a great time to do it,” Harbaugh said via ProFootballTalk.com. “It’s not the most ideal thing. Everybody would rather be sleeping in their own bed, in their own house. The 1 o’clock Eastern Time kickoff really necessitates — that’s 10 o’clock our body time — getting acclimated to that. Plus you take out the 20 or so hours of travel time. Other benefits, let’s just focus on our football. … It’s a team that enjoys each other’s company.”

They better. That’s a lot of time on the road together.

The Chargers will stay in Charlotte after playing the Panthers ahead of their week 3 game against the Steelers.

“There’s no reason why we can’t have some fun. Bring the board games and the snacks.” pic.twitter.com/ZtkldjSBjD

— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) September 11, 2024

Via SI.com, the Chargers expect to practice at UNC Charlotte for the week in advance of the game at Acrisure Stadium on Sept. 22.

Waitman can relate

Recently reacquired punter Corliss Waitman said Wednesday that he’s happy to be in the Steelers’ locker room again. But he is not thrilled about the circumstances that brought him back.

The franchise re-signed Waitman after promising free-agent acquisition Cam Johnston was lost for the season because of a knee injury suffered Sunday on a blocked-punt attempt from the Atlanta Falcons.

Johnston’s knee on his kicking leg was allegedly injured in multiple places. Waitman can relate.

“I talked to Cam. It’s unfortunate,” Waitman said. “You don’t wish that on anybody. I tore my ACL, meniscus and MCL in college. So I know how that feels. But he’ll be back. He’s a great guy.”

Waitman’s injury occurred while he was at South Alabama and an opposing returner was being tackled near the sideline and rolled into the side of Waitman’s kicking knee.

The 29-year-old was a Steeler the first time around in 2021 when he filled in for Pressley Harvin III while he was on bereavement leave. He punted seven times over two games for an average of 42.6 yards per kick.

Royal reality check

There are enough bad teams in Major League Baseball that even the Pirates can stumble into a sweep.

We just got proof at PNC Park as the 70-76 Buccos swept three straight from the 54-92 Miami Marlins. At 33-114, the Chicago White Sox are the only team in Major League Baseball with fewer wins than the Marlins.

Now, though, the Pirates have a step up in competition. They have to face the Kansas City Royals for a three-game series starting Friday. They are 80-67, good for second place in the American League Wild Card standings.

The Royals’ plus-95 run differential is second-best in the AL behind only the East-leading New York Yankees (plus-124). Only the Yankees (734), Orioles (721) and Red Sox (696) have higher run totals in the AL than K.C. at 693. The team’s .253 batting average is third-best in the AL.

On the mound, Kansas City is fifth in the AL with just 598 runs allowed.