In the Pittsburgh Steelers’ third straight loss to the Indianapolis Colts last week, WR George Pickens became the focus of the fanbase’s ire. It was an easy target as he could be seen giving up on a play where he could have laid the key block to get RB Jaylen Warren in the end zone. Since then, the news cycle has been almost exclusively Pickens talk. Many suggested he should be benched to send a message, and others figured it could be the beginning of the end of his time in Pittsburgh.
He bounced back and responded in a huge way with a career performance on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals. He caught four passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, and it started on the Steelers’ second offensive play of the game. Former Steelers pro personnel coordinator Doug Whaley discussed the significance of the day for Pickens on WPXI’s The Black and Gold Postgame Show.
“Let’s all remember: these are young men,” Whaley said. They are maturing, learning how to be professionals. Not only on the field, but off the field. That’s why you have to have a coach like Mike Tomlin that understands you can’t have a blanket coverage for everybody on the team as how they are to be handled.”
Along with the Pickens criticism last week came a healthy dose of Tomlin criticism. People were already starting to question whether or not the team was responding to his message after two straight losses and the Pickens ordeal became the proof in the eyes of the media following their third. It was fair to think that there could be repercussions for Pickens including but not limited to a possible benching, but Tomlin came out for a rare mid-week press conference and stated that Pickens would play. That turned out to be a great decision. Nothing helps prove a point or reinforce a message like having a career day.
“What Pickens was saying after [the game] in his interview, I saw some humility,” Whaley continued. “Talking about other players, talking about Mason [Rudolph], talking about coaching, talking about being put in positions to succeed, to show his talent. Maybe this is a step forward in his maturation process to becoming a true professional wide receiver in the NFL.”
Tomlin often talks to his players about shutting out the outside noise. News cycles in the media can make a complete turnaround in a hurry if the team handles their business on the field. They did just that in their most complete win of the season. I am sure this won’t be the end of Pickens’ maturation process. There are bound to be at least a few more chapters in that book, but Tomlin went to bat for him last week and here we are a few days later with a career performance. If that doesn’t get him to buy into Tomlin’s message, I don’t know what will. Here he was, on the field during the game, showing that he is shutting out the noise to the camera.
