First Call: Surprising retirement for an ex-Steeler; Brock Purdy gets a preseason start; will Steelers see Bijan Robinson?

Monday’s “First Call” has word of a surprising retirement for a former Pittsburgh Steeler. We find out how the San Francisco 49ers are shaping up in advance of their regular-season debut at Acrisure Stadium. We check in on Atlanta’s plans when it comes to Bijan Robinson’s playing time against the Steelers on Thursday.

And a pair of former Pirates suffered tough results in the Bronx over the weekend.

No more from Myles

On Sunday, we learned former Steelers linebacker Myles Jack is retiring from the National Football League. That report came from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

Sources: Veteran LB Myles Jack has informed the #Eagles that he plans to retire after seven NFL seasons and 617 tackles. Jack signed with Philly during camp, now will hang ‘em up. pic.twitter.com/xhMDOUjUSV

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 20, 2023

This news comes just 14 days after Jack signed with the Eagles in free agency. He played 29 snaps against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday during their preseason game and made two tackles.

He didn’t even stay in Philadelphia long enough to see the Flyers miss the playoffs again.

Jack, 27, and fellow linebacker Zach Cunningham were both signed Aug. 6 to add some veteran experience to a young core of Philadelphia linebackers.

But reports out of Philly were that Cunningham brought more spark to practices and that Jack had begun to slip down the depth chart after getting some first-team consideration upon his arrival.

The Steelers released Jack on March 17, after leading the team in tackles in 2022 with 104. But only three were for a loss and the former Jaguars standout wasn’t involved in a single sack or turnover.

Jack is retiring after seven seasons in the NFL.

An eye on the Niners

After a 34-7 preseason opening blowout loss in Las Vegas, the San Francisco 49ers looked much better in Week 2 of the preseason.

Most importantly, Brock Purdy returned to action. And that’s what Steelers fans are watching in advance of San Francisco’s visit to Acrisure Stadium in Week 1. The Niners won their game 21-20 over the Denver Broncos on Saturday night. Purdy, San Francisco’s likely Week 1 starter, got his first game action since offseason elbow surgery. He was efficient, going 4 of 5 for 65 yards en route to a field-goal drive to open the game. A pair of good runs after the catch from Deebo Samuel certainly helped the cause.

Welcome back @brockpurdy13!

#DENvsSF on KPIX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/1ifaufTLoz

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) August 20, 2023

“I thought he did real good, all the plays that he had he made and I don’t think he had a bad one,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the game.

After taking four sacks against the Raiders, Trey Lance threw an interception in this game. But he also threw a touchdown and was 12 of 18 for 173 yards.

Sam Darnold was 11 of 14 for 109 yards, a TD and an interception.

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High-flying Falcon

Many people are excited to see Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson play this year. The rookie out of Texas is coming into the 2023 season with a lot of hype, and he got off to a good start this weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals in Game 2 of the preseason.

.@Bijan5Robinson's first #NFLPreseason carry

: Stream #CINvsATL on #NFLPlus https://t.co/L9mPiySUki pic.twitter.com/PYNqdLUQhM

— NFL (@NFL) August 18, 2023

Robinson had four carries for 20 yards as well as a six-yard reception. The Falcons and Bengals ended up in a 13-13 tie. The former Longhorn didn’t play in Game 1 of the preseason.

There’s no word yet if he’ll play against the Steelers on Thursday in Atlanta in the preseason finale.

“I think we have a decent idea,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said of his plans for playing his starters. “I just really want to see how the next two days go. We’ll finalize that Tuesday night. A lot of what we feel like we need to work on for certain guys that we know will be here to get ready to go Week 1.”

The only two players Smith specifically mentioned in terms of injuries were receivers KhaDarel Hodge (ankle) and Penny Hart (concussion). Both will be held out of practice this week.

Tough day for Clay

The New York Yankees have lost eight games in a row for the first time since 1995. The latest defeat was a 6-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. The Sox swept their American League East rivals during a three-game weekend series.

Former Pirate Clay Holmes took the loss. He falls to 4-4. Justin Turner tagged him for a go-ahead double that snapped a 5-5 tie.

JUSTHIM. pic.twitter.com/Y5Ang5Yn41

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 20, 2023

It’s Holmes’ second loss since Aug. 13. Prior to that, Holmes hadn’t suffered a loss since June 4. He has saved 16 of 19 chances for the Yankees this season. Holmes’ ERA is still only 2.87. But it was down to 2.06 as recently as Aug. 5.

Another ex-Pirate, Gerrit Cole, gave up six earned runs en route to an 8-1 loss to Boston on Saturday. On the season, Cole is now 10-4 with a 3.03 ERA.

New York is now 60-64. That puts the Yankees in last place of the American League East, six games behind fourth-place Boston and 17 games behind the division-leading Baltimore Orioles.