First Call: Kenny Pickett wins Steelers HR derby again; Bills have fight-filled practice in advance of Pittsburgh trip

Wednesday’s “First Call” gives us Kenny Pickett’s continued dominance of the Pittsburgh Steelers home run hitting contest at training camp.

Plus, Steelers coaches look to boost James Pierre’s game.

Also, the Dallas Cowboys appear to be in the clear with an injury scare to Micah Parsons, and James Washington needs a new place to play.

Pickett power

For the second consecutive year, Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett is the team’s training camp home run king.

It’s an annual event the Steelers do for fun toward the end of training camp on the Saint Vincent College baseball fields. Pickett won the event last year as well.

Back-to-back Home Run Derby Champ ???? pic.twitter.com/pPZK4JhnLc

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 16, 2023

His closest competition this summer is said to have been fellow quarterback Mitch Trubisky, as well as long snappers Christian Kuntz and Rex Sunahara.

Via Steelers Depot, while at Ocean Township High School in New Jersey, Pickett hit .600 with three doubles and a pair of RBIs in 10 at-bats.

Words of encouragement

In the wake of a rough outing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is attempting to coach up defensive back James Pierre.

And he’s trying to do so with some positive reinforcement.

During practice Tuesday, receiver Cody White caught a ball in front of Pierre after the 26-year-old corner seemed to hesitate before breaking on the play.

“Trust your abilities,” Austin yelled to Pierre. “He’s not going to run by you there.”

Pierre had 10 tackles, but Pro Football Focus tagged him for six catches allowed on six targets for 92 yards. He was also beaten for Tampa Bay’s first touchdown by Trey Palmer.

The secondary closed out practice in style, though, with Minkah Fitzpatrick, Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace all contributing on pass breakups on the final three passes of practice.

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Feelin’ feisty

The Buffalo Bills appear ready to face an opponent in a different color jersey.

Those colors will be black and gold as they visit Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. Multiple reports from Bills camp Tuesday outlined a number of different skirmishes during practice.

Big fight during #Bills practice today as Tyrel Dodson and Spencer Brown got into it. At one point Dodson was swinging a helmet around and Josh Allen was livid, screaming at him to cut it out. Dodson stormed off and LB coach Bobby Babich had to go calm him down.

— Heather Prusak (@haprusak) August 15, 2023

Neal and Diggs were still going at it after practice. Got nose to nose at one point walking off the field.
Kept on yelling almost all the way to the locker room.
Still likely just practice, getting competitive stuff.#Bills https://t.co/JPLTxjc0yZ

— Thad Brown (@thadbrown7) August 15, 2023

Near the end of practice Diggs caught a TD pass from Josh Allen and made darn well sure the defense knew about it.

— Sal Capaccio (@SalSports) August 15, 2023

Things got a little yappy at the end of Steelers practice Tuesday after the defense woofed at the receivers following all those pass breakups. But nothing at training camp this summer has even come close to reaching that level of tension.

Parsons’ problem

Cowboys fans are keeping an eye on former Penn State star Micah Parsons. The two-time All-Pro left practice Tuesday with a leg injury. Parsons says he got kicked and was going for further evaluation.

But he hardly seems concerned.

“It’s just something that happened to me. It’s football,” Parsons told Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “I’m not worried about it.”

According to Watkins, the standout linebacker has been the “best player” in Cowboys camp so far this summer. Parsons didn’t play in the Cowboys preseason opener, a 28-23 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars over the weekend. They visit Seattle in their next exhibition game this coming Saturday.

Another door closes

Former Steeler James Washington continues to hunt for a stable roster situation. The 27-year-old wide receiver has been released by the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints have released veteran WR James Washington.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 15, 2023

That’s the third team to let go of Washington since the Steelers allowed him to walk in free agency after the 2021 season.

Prior to the Saints, Washington was also with the Dallas Cowboys. But he played in just two games thanks to a broken foot. After being released in early January, he jumped to the New York Giants practice squad for 10 days, then signed with New Orleans in May.

Over four years with the Steelers, Washington had 114 catches, 1,629 yards and 11 touchdowns. In 2019, he led the club with 735 yards and an average yards per reception of 16.9.