Moments after the clock hit triple zeroes to close out the 20-17 win for the Dallas Cowboys over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5 on Sunday Night Football, Steelers’ wide receiver George Pickens yanked Cowboys’ cornerback Jourdan Lewis to the turf in a moment of frustration that has drawn Pickens plenty of criticism in the days since.
Shortly after the game, while walking into the locker room, Lewis made sure reporters heard him, calling Pickens “weak” and stating the Steelers needed to find another receiver because the third-year receiver wasn’t good enough.
In the days since that incident on the field and Lewis’ comment, cooler heads have prevailed. Lewis, who spoke to Cowboys media Wednesday, stated he regretted the incident and shouldn’t have made those comments in the heat of the moment.
“Honestly, I shouldn’t have said that. It was an emotional game. There was some chatter on the field. One thing led to another. He had a moment. I had a moment. It was too emotional. I shouldn’t have said it,” Lewis said of the George Pickens comment, according to a tweet from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Nick Harris.
It wasn’t a great night for George Pickens overall. He finished with just three receptions for 26 yards, hauling in just one pass for eight yards in the first half. Though he had a 21-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter to set up tight end Pat Freiermuth’s touchdown catch, Pickens was held in check all night long despite his message on his eye black about being open all the time.
George Pickens was also on the bench at times, playing a career-low in snaps with just 34 against the Cowboys, something that head coach Mike Tomlin attested to, aiming to get higher-quality reps and managing Pickens’ output to help him be more productive.
All of that combined into the emotional display that George Pickens had at the end of the game, yanking Lewis to the turf, leading to Lewis’ comments.
He might regret them and say it was an emotional moment for both parties, but he said what he said, and there’s no going back. Some agree with what Lewis said, too, as George Pickens once again finds himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
