Whatever you do, don’t tell Mike Tomlin there’s anything to be made out of the George Pickens saga, stemming from last Sunday night.
During a Friday media session, Tomlin was asked by reporters about Pickens following a lackluster Cowboys game, where he stole headlines for playing limited snaps, wearing controversial eye black and giving what some peceived as questionable effort.
“Guys, we have been very transparent with you guys regarding the lack of snaps,” an annoyed Tomlin said when asked about Pickens’ attitude in practice this week. “You know, it’s frustration and all of that, man. Competitors often times get emotional. That’s a component of this game. I’m not gonna make more out of it than what it is.”
Tomlin spoke to media about Pickens earlier this week as well saying he is “aware” of Pickens’ behavior but would rather address it behind closed doors. This falls in line with Tomlin’s philosophy throughout his career, understanding how players wanting to win can sometimes lead to strong emotional responses. In fact, one of the most famous “Tomlin-isms” is “I’d rather say ‘Whoa’ than ‘sic’em.’”
Funny enough, he said this after an outburst from Pickens in 2022 when he was held to just one catch for two yards against the Atlanta Falcons.
The team has rallied around Pickens this week with Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, Arthur Smith and more defending the receiver after his antics. It’s been speculated by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo that the team is being careful with Pickens to avoid another Antonio Brown situation.
“I think Mike feels like he’s tiptoeing around a situation that might explode here. I think with Diontae [Johnson], for all Diontae’s warts, I think deep down, he was a decent guy. He could take criticism, and he could work through that with teammates. I don’t think George is capable of doing that,” Fittipaldo said, according to 93.7 The Fan. “So, I just think this is more like an Antonio Brown situation like [in] 2018.
Whatever the reason, it is interesting that Pickens played a career-low in snap percentage, supposedly due to rep management. While our Alex Kozora wrote a great in-depth article on why this seems to be the case for Pickens this season as a whole, it’s still head-scratching to take your best offensive player off the field so frequently. Frankly, an effort/attitude concern would hold up far better than simply trying to conserve him as a reason to reduce his snaps.
Either way, it seems from the outsider’s view that Tomlin and the team remain unconcerned about Pickens heading into the game against the Raiders on Sunday.
