It’s hardly surprising that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ public relations department opted not to put out the interview WR George Pickens gave with members of the media on Thursday. Indeed, they usually do a pretty good job of leaving out some of the more inflammatory things that come up—for what little it does, because it always comes out elsewhere.
The most noteworthy item from Pickens’ scrimmage with the media was his comment about his in-game route tree, indicating that he is not being put in positions to produce, and in ways that are not reflective of how he practices.
He also addressed his public frustrations, making it very clear that, yes, he gets frustrated when he’s losing, though sometimes it goes beyond that—as when a teammate scores a go-ahead touchdown rather than him, perhaps. But he’s “in a good headspace”, he said, according to Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
And as far as coverage of his temper tantrums go, he doesn’t sweat it too much, or so he says. “I just let people talk because sometimes that’s their profession, that’s their job, to make up stories or stuff like that”, he said.
And there have been plenty of stories. Of course, those stories wouldn’t exist if his observable behavior in-game on the field and on the sideline weren’t worth commenting upon. Those comments would occasionally go over the top, but it’s always going to be notable when a player doesn’t keep his composure.
It’s not like we haven’t talked about this with Tom Brady dozens and dozens of times. And Brady gets to decide where the ball goes. Pickens can do everything right on a play and still have nothing to show for it on a throw that ultimately goes nowhere.
“I’m just running my routes to get open”, he said, speaking to his perspective of his own role within the offense. “I don’t really [worry about] personnel or who’s at quarterback or the situation. I’m still doing what George does: Get open and catch the ball and score. That’s all I wanna do”.
Part of the problem is the fact that Pickens hasn’t scored in seven weeks. His last touchdown came in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he has been held out of the end zone since then. Indeed, he’s only topped 50 yards once since then. He even had a game with minus one yard. He caught five passes for 19 yards in their last game.
Only a blind fool could make the argument that the Steelers are in any way maximizing Pickens’ talents. That is one fact of the matter about which there should be universal agreement. How Pickens handles that reality has produced a lot more mixed opinions.
Everyone around him will tell you that it’s just a manifestation of a desire to win and to contribute, and maybe that’s so. But how much worse could it get if things don’t improve? Let’s hope none of us, including Pickens, have to find out.
