As the offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers continues to struggle even after a change in offensive coordinator, frustrations continue to mount, especially from young players.
One such player who has displayed his frustration in recent weeks is a familiar culprit in second-year wide receiver George Pickens.
Throughout last Thursday night’s loss to the New England Patriots in which he had just five receptions for 19 yards and had just one target at halftime with the Steelers trailing 21-10, Pickens could be seen on the sideline voicing his frustrations, directing it at teammates and coaches, even having a conversation with head coach Mike Tomlin at one point.
On Monday, Tomlin stated that Pickens needs to be more professional when dealing with frustrations, and that his outbursts are becoming problematic.
Wednesday, interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner stated to reporters that he believes the players’ frustrations should not necessarily be framed as selfish, especially when it comes to Pickens.
“I think what gets lost in the sauce a lot of times as far as that’s concerned is these guys are competitors. They wanna win and it’s coming from a good place when they show their frustrations,” Faulkner said to reporters, according to audio provided by the team. “And so, we work with them through that. Just as simple as that.
“We’re still dealing with young men and developing them, too, and on how to deal with certain issues. And so, that’s the kind of approach that we’ve taken.”
The frustrations are understandable. The offense is a mess, isn’t making enough plays and isn’t scoring points. After dominating in college at Georgia, Pickens had a strong rookie season. Expectations coming into 2023 were that he would take off in Year Two. Though he’s had flashes of being a dominant force, he hasn’t exactly taken off like many expected.
Maybe he’s feeling the pressure, hearing the outside noise. Whatever it is, it’s affecting him. He wants the football thrown his way, wants to make plays to help the Steelers win, and above all else, wants to win football games, period.
But as Tomlin stated, he has to do a better job of controlling those emotions. For Faulkner, that starts with better communication with Pickens.
“Internal communicating with him, talking, seeing where his head’s at. Just communicating,” Faulkner said.
Faulkner added that the second-year receiver, to his credit, has been receptive to the talks and is working on improving how he handles frustration.
We’ll see if those talks and the development in that area with Pickens pays off. But it has occurred multiple times with Pickens at this point. It might just be who he is, and the Steelers might just have to deal with it for the time being, for better or worse. He’s an uber-talented player, but he has to mature some from an emotional standpoint.
