On Tuesday morning at 8:41, the Pittsburgh Steelers tweeted the news that they had fired OC Matt Canada, the first such midseason dismissal of a coordinator in franchise history. News quickly spread and dominated every local and national media headline. Players found out along with fans, Mike Tomlin confirming he did not inform the team prior to their announcement. And for WR George Pickens, he says he didn’t know Canada was out until Wednesday morning when he came to the team facility and heard the news.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Pickens said his no-social media policy left him in the dark about the change.
“I didn’t even know,” Pickens said via The PPG’s Brian Batko. “I’m not on social media. So I ain’t really looked until I came here and they let us in on [the news].”
Pickens was then asked if he was referring to coming into the building on Tuesday (the players’ day off) or Wednesday. He confirmed it was Wednesday.
Taking him at his word, it means he didn’t know about Canada’s firing until roughly 24 hours after the news broke. There are uncles in Wexford who got word sooner than that.
Ultimately, it doesn’t mean a lot. Pickens still found out the news and the team went to work Wednesday under interim OC Eddie Faulkner and QBs Coach/play caller Mike Sullivan.
Still, this is the “consequence” of Tomlin not alerting the players ahead of time and leaving them to find out like the rest of us. QB Kenny Pickett said he woke up to the news, using Tuesday as his one day to sleep in until around nine. Cam Heyward said he was getting into a car when he saw the news. While players found out in different ways, it’s hard to believe Pickens wasn’t part of a group text or didn’t have someone in the receiver room text him about it. Maybe the guy truly just never is even on his phone and is able to unplug from the world. But when it comes to social media and news, it’s been an eventful year for Pickens.
Regardless of why, when, or how Pickens found out, the Steelers’ goal will be to get him more involved in the offense than he has been over the last month. Pickens remains the team’s leading receiver in every major category but hasn’t caught more than four passes in any of his last four games, hasn’t had more than 45 yards in any of those games, and has just one touchdown over that span (though he missed out on a score against Tennessee).
For Faulkner and Sullivan, their plan should be to keep things simple and get the ball to their playmakers. Pickens is one of those guys. Now, he, Pickett, and the rest of the offense must execute.
