In a bit of “reality television” much of the talk regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers right now seems to center on second-year wide receiver George Pickens and the frustration he showed on the sideline and after the game in Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans.
Pickens notably turned and ran off the field immediately after fellow wide receiver Diontae Johnson scored a touchdown late against the Titans. Cameras caught him with a towel over his head sulking after Johnson’s touchdown, while cameras also caught offensive coordinator Matt Canada consoling Pickens on the sideline throughout the game.
After the win over the Titans, Pickens was reportedly the first one off the field, and the first one out of the locker room, not speaking to reporters. He then posted some concerning things on social media, writing “free me” in an Instagram story before walking it back a day later, stating that the posts had nothing to do with football.
Those activities on social media led to head coach Mike Tomlin being asked about them, to which he tried to emphatically shoot down any concerns while pushing back on the media for making it a big deal.
But for Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Pickens’ frustrations and his outward display of them and overall emotions show that Tomlin has already failed to keep a lid on him, being unable to do something he’s done for so long.
“The mere fact that Pickens acted out regarding his frustrations shows that Tomlin has already failed, in comparison to his usual standard of keeping pots from boiling over until he’s ready to dump its contents and move on,” Florio wrote in a piece for PFT Wednesday morning. “…With Pickens, the mere fact that he showed frustration on the field, in the locker room, and on social media shows that Tomlin and his staff did not successfully manage the player in a way that would get him to not do those things. And it suggests that, regardless of Tomlin’s comments on Tuesday, there is a problem between player and team.”
Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill.
Pickens is a young player who grew up in a digital age, one that allows him to express his thoughts freely. Though he says the posts had nothing to do with football, it’s not the first time he’s shared some frustrations on social media. He allegedly liked a comment on his IG about needing a quarterback who can get him the football and has been rather noticeable with his body language and frustration on the field, leading to some team veterans talking to him on the sideline.
But this latest example doesn’t show that Tomlin lost his fastball when it comes to being able to control young, emotional players. The Steelers are still winning, Pickens is still out there trying to make every play possible, and he’s still coming to work daily putting in the work aiming to be the best receiver in the world.
This isn’t like when Antonio Brown quit on the team and then went off the deep end, or when the Steelers traded Chase Claypool to get rid of a locker room distraction. Heck, this isn’t anywhere close to when Le’Veon Bell sat out an entire season in a contract dispute.
This is a young receiver wanting the football because he knows when he gets the rock and produces, the team wins. That’s it. He’s an extremely competitive guy, and he was hard on himself after not getting a second foot down for a touchdown and having a quiet game for the second straight week.
Tomlin was right in stating that he wants a receiver who wants the football. That’s how it should be. Pickens does need to clean up some of the body-language issues and learn to channel his emotions better, but in no way, shape or form is this incident from Pickens a sign that Tomlin has already failed with a young player like Florio wants to believe.
