George Pickens has been having a strange season. He’s been amazing, making highlight-reel plays on a regular basis, but he’s also had some serious lowlights. Against the Dallas Cowboys, he had maybe his worst NFL game. He didn’t play well, he lashed out at Cowboys corner Jourdan Lewis, and he had an explicit message written on his eye black. Pickens claimed to have no knowledge that would be a problem, but former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe doesn’t buy that excuse.
“When you look at it, you would think a person would be smart enough not to use an explicit,” Sharpe said on a recent episode of his Nightcap podcast. “Come on. They fined Cam [Heyward] for writing a message about his dad when his dad passed. You think they’re going to let you write something explicit?”
Sharpe is correct. Pickens saying he didn’t know that the explicit message would be a problem just isn’t good enough. He’s young, but he’s still a professional. He represents the Steelers’ organization. The message itself isn’t a huge deal. It’s not like he tried to harm anyone. The problems start when he has issues on the field during the same game and doesn’t own up to his faults.
The Steelers have dealt with receivers with worse issues than Pickens though. Antonio Brown provided vastly greater headaches. Mike Tomlin has handled those players well but has shown he’s willing to move on if they become too much too handle. It’s too early to say the Steelers should get rid of Pickens because he still has a chance to get back on track.
During that same episode, Sharpe continued talking about Pickens.
“You know you can’t write nothing like that. And he’s going to put ‘F it?’ They just like giving away their money,” Sharpe said.
Pickens will likely get fined for the message, but he should have seen that coming. Even if he didn’t realize any message would get him in trouble, he should’ve known that an expletive would set off alarms for the NFL.
Heyward was fined when he honored his late father a few years ago. It’s not like that’s something Pickens needs to know, but when he is made aware of it, he shouldn’t be surprised when he gets fined.
When it rains on Pickens, it pours. He’s dealing with a lot of different issues right now, and it’s understandable if he’s frustrated. The Steelers are losing, so he shouldn’t exactly be chipper. However, he can’t let his negative feelings drag him down. He especially can’t allow them to harm the team.
It’s too early to give up on Pickens. He’s shown that he can be an unbelievable player. However, there’s been no receiver too talented for the Steelers to trade. Brown, Diontae Johnson, and Chase Claypool are recent examples. Santonio Holmes won them a Super Bowl, and the Steelers still traded him when he had issues off the field.
It will be interesting to see how Pickens responds this week. If he lets his play speak for him and puts in an incredible performance, much of this noise should quiet down. However, if he gets frustrated again, what will he do? It seems like the Steelers are still supporting him, but that likely won’t last if he can’t keep his cool.
