Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens made social media headlines for all the wrong reasons Friday. He apparently deleted all the Steelers content off his Instagram profile and posted “Free Me” in a since-deleted story. Despite Pittsburgh defeating the Tennessee Titans 20-16 Thursday night, Pickens failed to produce on the stat sheet with two catches for a loss of a yard while fellow WR Diontae Johnson had four more targets (9-5) and had seven catches for 90 yards and the game-winning touchdown. As detailed in that linked post, the Athletic’s Mark Kaboly reported that Pickens was upset enough after that game-winning touchdown that he did not speak with anyone despite the efforts of offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Pickens scrubbing his Instagram account led to widespread outcry that he is simply the next in a line of talented divas at the wide receiver position. However, it appears that at least one of his teammates thinks quite highly of him. CB Levi Wallace joined the GoJo and Golic Show on the DraftKings YouTube channel Friday, and he was asked about the second-year wide receiver.
“You have a guy that’s just super ball-hungry,” Wallace said. “Playmaker, obviously super talented. It’s hard to compete against a guy like that in training camp every single day, because he makes you mad. At the same time it gets you better. His time is coming, and he picked up a lot of slack when Diontae was out for a while… His personality is big, it speaks for itself, and obviously, he’s a great playmaker.”
There are a few things that Wallace said that can play into what’s bothering Pickens. Evidently, the ball-hungry comment is the headliner. Pickens wants the ball. He proved as a rookie that he wants the ball more than defenders by being one of the best contested-catch receivers in the game. That’s a positive in those situations, but it can also be a problem when it comes to spreading the ball around on offense.
This segues perfectly into the second important phrase, and that’s about Pickens’ performance with Johnson sidelined. After Johnson went down in the third quarter of the Week One loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Pickens became the No. 1 wide receiver on the team. He saw 10 targets twice and six targets as the fewest during the five-game span that Johnson was sidelined. However, in the two games since Johnson returned, Pickens has only been targeted five times in each game. Meanwhile, Johnson saw 14 targets in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars and nine in the win over the Titans.
Then Wallace noted that Pickens has a big personality. That’s not a surprise. In fact, most NFL players have big personalities, and wide receivers in particular are noted for it. Once again, that’s not necessarily a negative. It simply adds more color to the situation.
Without getting to talk to Pickens, we can’t know for certain what’s causing his frustration. However, we can piece together some evidence. Pickens had a shot at a touchdown against Tennessee and was unable to get both feet in bounds after making the catch. With all the other information we have about Pickens’ personality, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s also pretty tough on himself. I imagine he holds himself to a high standard, and in that moment, he might have felt like he let everyone down.
Then you factor in the fact that Johnson has been seeing many more targets than Pickens in the last two games (23-10), and you have a recipe for a passionate player to be very upset. Does that mean Pickens is the next Antonio Brown? Absolutely not. People handle emotions differently. It doesn’t make Pickens a crybaby or anything. He obviously cares about football, and I think it’s evident he wants to be the very best he can be.
With a situation in which Pickens failed to capitalize on a prime scoring opportunity while seeing reduced opportunities, it’s understandable that he would be upset. What matters more is how he rebounds over the next week in practice and interacts with his teammates. That will determine whether the Instagram scrubbing is simply an emotional moment that passes or if it’s a sign of bigger problems.
You can watch the GoJo and Golic Show with Wallace’s appearance in the second hour below.
