Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson finds himself in a rather familiar position: talking about a lack of effort and emotions getting out of hand on the field.
Only this time, it’s not his effort or emotions he’s talking about.
Just a few weeks after coming under fire for poor effort on a Jaylen Warren fumble, about which he had to answer to the media and his teammates, Johnson fielded questions about fellow wide receiver George Pickens’ lack of effort on a Warren run Saturday in the loss to the Colts.
Pickens didn’t block his defender and stood around watching on a 1st-and-goal run from the 7-yard line, leading to his man tackling Warren short of the end zone. The Steelers didn’t score on the drive until officials reviewed a Mitch Trubisky fumble on fourth down and ruled that he crossed the plane before losing the ball.
The lack of effort from Pickens was yet another example of immaturity and frustration from the young receiver, which is growing old. For Johnson, he wants the Steelers to rally around Pickens and help keep his spirits high.
“Everybody emotions gonna be like this [a rollercoaster]. It’s my job, everybody’s job is just rally around a guy like that, George specifically, just to keep him his spirits up, keep his head in the game so when the ball comes his way, he’s able to make a play,” Johnson told reporters, according to video via 93.7 The Fan on Twitter. “And that’s just the part of the game. Like emotions, that’s tough.
“But emotions is a part of the game. But I don’t want to just sit here and just make it so like George is the problem with the offense. That’s not the case. Like I say, emotions is real big in the game.”
Emotions are a big part of sports, especially professional football. Players feed off emotions, good and bad.
But too often, emotions are getting the better of the Steelers’ receivers — in a negative way.
Pickens had some issues earlier in the season during a win over the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football. He wasn’t seeing the targets he desired, and he came up short on a catch in the end zone, failing to get two feet down. After the game, he took to social media with some curious posts on Instagram and archived all his posts, including all things Steeler-related.
That eventually blew over, but then he had a meltdown on the sideline during the Thursday night loss to the Patriots, leading to head coach Mike Tomlin calling his outbursts a problem.
Then, Saturday’s lack of effort happened, and he followed it up with a ridiculous play on Mitch Trubisky’s second interception, running the other way from the defensive back who had picked off the pass.
The Steelers do need to rally around Pickens because he is getting hammered through the media and the fan base, but he needs to face the music and shape up. He’s too talented to be acting like this, especially this early in his career when he hasn’t accomplished all that much.
