It’s been a rough go as of late for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They went from 7-4 and in a great spot in the AFC playoff picture, to 7-6 and now largely needing to win out to get into the playoffs in the tough AFC after two woeful losses to the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots.
Amidst that rough stretch that included the two embarrassing losses in a five-day stretch was yet another emotional outburst on the sideline from second-year wide receiver George Pickens.
At halftime against the Patriots with the Steelers trailing 21-10, Pickens had just one target. He finished the game with just five receptions for 19 yards.
He was so frustrated on the sideline, displaying his frustrations with his body language and the way he was talking to some teammates that eventually head coach Mike Tomlin needed to speak with him.
That led to some pointed comments Monday from Tomlin regarding Pickens in his session with the media, stating that he needs Pickens to handle his emotions as a professional, and that the outbursts are becoming a problem.
During his session with the media Thursday, Pickens said that his frustration stems from the Steelers winning just one of their last four games.
“It ain’t really fun losing. I don’t really know what reaction you guys would expect,” Pickens told reporters, according to a tweet from 93.7 The Fan. “If you lose at a video game, if you lose at anything you participate in, you are going to be mad.
“That’s the biggest component of it.”
Again, Pickens’ frustrations come from a good place. He wants to win, and he wants to be part of his team winning. He’s a good player, a good receiver, one who makes game-changing plays regularly.
But opponents know that now and are changing the way they defend him. Pittsburgh hasn’t exactly adjusted to that, failing to scheme up ways to get Pickens open against those new looks and changes in coverages, and I’m sure that’s playing a part in his frustration.
That said, the sideline outbursts, the poor body language and even needing to be talked to by Tomlin is simply not a good look for Pickens — at all.
It’s now happened multiple times this season, and it even occurred in his rookie season, too.
Losing certainly isn’t fun, but neither is having to answer questions about how you are acting on the sideline as a professional athlete, I’m sure. Or hearing your coach call your antics a problem through the media, which I’m sure he heard from Tomlin directly about as well.
Pickens has a lot of growing up to do. He has to learn how to deal with being taken away by defenses and not seeing the ball on a consistent basis in some matchups. That’s football. It happens to the great ones, too.
