Third-year wide receiver George Pickens finds himself in an unnecessary spotlight once again due to his behavior on the field and a specific message written across the eye black on his face in Sunday Night Football’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
So much so, that Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin had to address the situation Tuesday during his weekly session with the media.
After stating following the loss that the Steelers limited Pickens’ snaps against the Cowboys in an effort to get more high-quality reps out of him, Tomlin again pushed that message. He stated that he had no issues whatsoever with Pickens’ effort against the Cowboys but added that he was unaware of any message Pickens had written across his eye black and said he addressed the behavior postgame involving Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis behind closed doors.
“Again, I don’t know what messaging you’re talking about regarding his eye black. I didn’t have any outlying issue with his effort. As I mentioned after the game, I think someone asked about a reduction in his total number of snaps. It’s just a snap-management thing in an effort to be more productive,” Tomlin said of Pickens, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “In today’s game, regarding analytics, we do it across a lot of positions, particularly when you look at the totality of a 17-game schedule. I’d imagine Cam Heyward, for example, is playing less snaps than he has.
“Just trying to grow and get optimum productivity amongst some individuals, and going about the best means doing so, and so that’s probably a reflection of the snap totality from last week.”
That’s a similar message that Tomlin had following the Cowboys game after it was noticeable that Pickens wasn’t on the field at times in the second half, especially in two-receiver sets. Pickens was ultimately out-snapped by the likes of Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III, which raised eyebrows.
Tomlin brushed it off as snap management to keep Pickens fresh and give him a chance to produce at a high level with quality snaps rather than in quantity.
But the eye black message, the incident with Lewis after the game, and then not talking to the media after the game and then Monday afternoon, too, has many questioning how Tomlin is handling him behind the scenes.
“Certainly things I’m open to addressing and will and do, I just don’t detail it in settings like this because it’s business between he [and I] in terms of his growth and development as a player and a man,” Tomlin said of addressing Pickens’ behavior. “I just don’t think it aids that growth and development to address it in open settings such as this. Regarding his behavior, I am aware of that. Obviously, that has been and will continue to be addressed. I just wasn’t aware of the messaging, so I’m giving you a knee-jerk reaction.”
It’s understandable why Tomlin won’t share the when and how he’s addressed or is addressing Pickens behind closed doors. That’s between him and the young receiver. It’s just good to hear that Tomlin has addressed it and will continue to address it.
Pickens is an immensely talented receiver, one who is a clear No. 1 for the Steelers and one who has all the talent in the world to be a special player in the NFL. He’s still only 23 years old, too. But he has start growing up and maturing.
That growth and maturity is something Tomlin has seen Pickens get better at. But he took a step back Sunday against the Cowboys.
He’s just three years into his career and every year during his time in the Black and Gold there have been questions about his maturity, his ability to handle adversity and his overall work ethic. That’s never a good sign.
Now, he’s under the microscope again, and needs to respond and show real growth. If not, the noise will only get louder.
