Pittsburgh Steelers third-year wide receiver George Pickens finds himself the center of attention for all the wrong reasons, this time after some behavior issues, a profane eye-black message, and limited snaps against the Dallas Cowboys, leading to questions about his effort.
While head coach Mike Tomlin wouldn’t address conversations with Pickens publicly and gave a curious answer as to why Pickens’ snaps were limited, teammates have been much more willing to vocally support the young receiver.
That includes veteran quarterback Russell Wilson.
Speaking to the media Thursday, Wilson stated that Pickens is “absolutely not” a bad teammate and that he can relate to his frustration given the calf injury that has sidelined Wilson for the first five weeks of the regular season.
“We all wanna play. We all wanna be out there. This is Year 13 for me, and I’ve never been in this place I’m in, as well,” Wilson said of Pickens’ frustration, according to a tweet from the Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor followed up with the big quote from Wilson on Pickens, defending him as a teammate and a talent.
“We love the player that he is. We love the competitor that he is and that’s the thing that you have to understand. Is George a bad teammate? Absolutely not. Is George a hell of a player? Absolutely,” Wilson said of Pickens, according to a tweet from Pryor. “Is he a great competitor? Absolutely. Is he a guy that wants the ball? Absolutely. Is he a guy that can do anything on the field that most people can’t? Absolutely.
“So I think the best thing that we can focus on is find different ways to get up in the ball, obviously also to him staying composed, that matters — but also understanding that it’s all team effort.”
There is no denying Pickens’ talent. It is immense. He’s a special mix of size, speed and body control, but oftentimes he can’t seem to stay out of his own way, which is rather frustrating for all parties involved.
That was again the case in Week 5 against the Cowboys, from the eye-black message that will likely draw a fine from the NFL to the dropped third-down pass after having his snaps reduced to his post-game incident with Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis, leading to Lewis calling him “weak.”
Pickens declined interviews after the game and didn’t make himself available on Monday in an open locker room. He had a bit of a difficult media session Thursday where he downplayed the eye black, was surprised by the backlash from it, and put the onus on offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to increase his snaps.
It’s good and all that he wants to win and is an ultra competitor. He wants to make plays, and he wants the ball. All great ones are like that, especially in big moments. But there is a fine line between being competitive and petulant, and right now Pickens seems like he’s on the wrong side of that line.
He’s still just 23 years old and is growing and maturing. Growth isn’t linear. But three years in, there are too many incidents with Pickens like this. He’s not a bad person and if someone like Wilson says he’s not a bad teammate, that hold some weight, especially since Pickens stated to ESPN’s Adam Schefter that he’s never had a leader to look up to like Wilson.
But he has to start showing it in the right ways moving forward. He has the backing of teammates. Now he needs to show to them that they’re right in believing in him by performing in a big way on the field and continuing to mature off of it.
