First Call: Reviewing Kenny Pickett's game vs. Patriots; Pitt products Damar Hamlin, Ben DiNucci return to Acrisure

Friday’s “First Call” takes a look at former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett’s latest outing in New England.

We check out a pair of Buffalo Bills with Pittsburgh roots coming back to Acrisure Stadium to face the Steelers.

Another familiar name to Steelers fans has been removed from Buffalo’s roster in advance of Saturday’s game.

And an AFC North foe of the Steelers lost a running back because of injury.

Pickett’s performance

Former Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett started for the Philadelphia Eagles in a preseason game Thursday night. They beat the New England Patriots, 14-13.

The Pittsburgh Panthers alum was accurate, completing 11 of 13 passes. However, he averaged just 5.2 yards per attempt and was sacked four times.

.@wisehog94 gets home on 4th down ????

????: @wbzsports pic.twitter.com/92V6KtlDiK

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 16, 2024

Pickett played the full first half. The offense managed just one field goal. He was relieved by third-stringer Tanner McKee. He was 15 of 19 for 140 yards. McKee led a touchdown drive capped by a two-point conversion to give Philly the win.

West Virginia product Will Grier also threw five passes for the Eagles, completing three of them for 35 yards.

Hamlin comes home

Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin has returned to Pittsburgh for his team’s Saturday game against the Steelers. He was part of the joint practice session Thursday at Acrisure Stadium.

He played there as a high school standout at Central Catholic and as part of Pitt’s teams from 2016-20.

“This is truly home. And if you know me, I’m a hometown kid. … This is my place,” Hamlin said. “So I expect a lot of love. I expect a lot of shared moments and memories for a lifetime.”

The McKees Rocks native recovered from a cardiac arrest incident on Jan. 2, 2023, during Monday Night Football in Cincinnati. But he was back in uniform at Acrisure Stadium by August of 2023 for a preseason contest. The 26-year-old ended up playing in five regular season games and two postseason contests last year.

Now, he’s hoping to expand his role in Buffalo’s secondary in 2024.

“I spend the majority of my offseasons here. I get to be personal with everybody in town and spend those moments, even outside of this sport,” Hamlin continued. “I’m just cherishing the moment. I really cherished that practice. We’d (normally) rush to get off the field and get through a practice. But today, I really tried to slow myself down and just enjoy the moment, because this was something special to me.”

Hamlin had two tackles in the first preseason game against Chicago. He was a partial participant in the practice and had his upper left leg wrapped during media interviews, saying that the trainers were simply being cautious with the season just a few weeks away.

More sports

• Mitch Trubisky opens up about his time with Steelers and group chat with Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph
• Russell Wilson to start, could have new center when Steelers face Bills in 2nd preseason game
• Steelers inside the ropes: Chippiness kept to minimum during joint practice with Bills

Another pleasant return

Hamlin says his first roommate at Pitt was Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci. He also played against DiNucci in a WPIAL championship game at (what was then) Heinz Field in 2014.

Now they are teammates once more as DiNucci signed a contract with the Bills on Monday. They needed a third quarterback behind Josh Allen and backup Mitch Trubisky when Shane Buechele suffered a neck injury and was placed on injured reserve.

It’s possible DiNucci could’ve been playing in this game as a member of the Steelers. He had a tryout with his hometown team in early August at the team’s practice facility on the South Side.

“The first thing I did was call my parents,” DiNucci said. “My parents start hooting and hollering. I’m like, ‘Guys, relax. It’s just a workout. I’m not starting. They are not signing me to take Russ’ (Wilson) job or Justin’s (Fields) job.’ But (it was) really cool to work out for your home city. I think it’ll be a little better to come beat them here on Saturday. We’ll see how that one plays out.”

DiNucci said his sister was already planning to come to the game with 10 of her friends before he even signed with Buffalo. Now, between his own rooting contingent and the one that Hamlin is bringing to the game, the duo of former Panthers could have between 50 to 70 people in attendance.

Still chasing a comeback

One player with Pittsburgh ties who was expecting to be at Acrisure Stadium with the Bills this week will not be making an appearance after all.

That’s former Steeler wide receiver Chase Claypool. He has been released with an injury settlement. Pittsburgh’s 2020 second-round pick was placed on injured reserve earlier this week.

The Bills and wide receiver Chase Claypool have agreed to an injury settlement, per today's NFL transaction report. This removes him from injured reserve and means he will have the ability to sign with a team.

— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) August 15, 2024

Claypool suffered a toe injury July 28. He was hoping to resurrect his career in Buffalo after washing out with the Steelers, Bears and Miami Dolphins.

The Bills have reps available at receiver after moving on from Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Curtis Samuel are expected to be Buffalo’s top three players at the position. Mack Hollins, K.J. Hamler and Marquez Valdes-Scantling are the next wave at receiver with Claypool gone.

Bad break for Bengals

An AFC North opponent for the Steelers suffered a blow to their offensive backfield on Thursday.

Bengals running back Chris Evans injured a patellar tendon in practice. He’ll likely be lost for the season according to Jordan Schultz.

Sources: #Bengals RB Chris Evans suffered a torn patellar tendon during today's practice, and he will miss the entire regular season.

Just a devastating blow for the former Michigan star, who was having a strong camp with Cincinnati. pic.twitter.com/Q4oJ4nDMr8

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 16, 2024

Via ProFootballTalk.com, Evans was injured during a kickoff return. Offensive lineman D’Ante Smith also went down during a team drill.

Evans was fourth on the Cincinnati depth chart at running back behind Zack Moss, Chase Brown and Trayveon Williams. The former Michigan Wolverine has played 34 games with one start since being selected by Cincy in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Listen: Prepare for your fantasy football draft with Tim Benz and Jeff Erickson of RotoWire.