Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens made headlines again following the team’s 24-19 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football, as he got into it with CB Greg Newsome II after Pittsburgh’s Hail Mary attempt on the final play of the game. Appearing on The Ken Carman Show on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Browns safety Rodney McLeod said he doesn’t think Pickens had any intent on making a play on the ball.
“We all know some of [George] Pickens’ tactics, and he had no plans on catching the ball. I guess he just wanted to show his toughness at this point in the game,” McLeod said Tuesday. “You had a long time to demonstrate that, and that’s not necessarily the moment.”
He also said the team has Pickens’ fight at the end of the game with CB Greg Newsome II “noted for their next matchup” on Dec. 8.
“I think there’s a lot that we can do to obviously get in his head that works in our advantage,” McLeod said while adding that the Browns “can’t fall for” any of Pickens’ “demonstrations.”
For what it’s worth, Pickens never really initiated the fight with Newsome until after he was already boxed out of bounds by the Browns cornerback. That is what Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said Tuesday took him out of the play, not Pickens himself. That is certainly what it looks like on the tape, and it doesn’t look like Pickens gave up on the ball until he wasn’t allowed to make a play on it. Had he touched it after going out of bounds, it would’ve been a penalty for illegal touching.
While he can be immature, McLeod’s comment that Pickens just wanted to be a tough guy and fight instead of going after the ball doesn’t really track with what actually happened, although Pickens certainly could’ve made more of an effort to avoid the box out from Newsome. Still, Newsome deserves more credit for making a good play rather than McLeod discrediting Pickens.
As for Cleveland knowing how to get in Pickens’ head, that’s something that the third-year receiver is going to have to work through. He can’t be a player who is easy to instigate, and he needs to show more maturity. The Browns clearly feel as if they can take Pickens out of the game mentally, and he needs to find a way to prevent that from happening when the two teams meet again in Week 14.
The fact that there isn’t much time between the two matchups means everything that went down in Week 12 will still be fresh, and both Pickens and the Cleveland defense will have to make sure they don’t let each other get under their skin and affect the contest. Whatever side can more effectively bother the other will have an upper hand, and Pickens especially will need to move on quickly and get his head right for the rest of the season and the Steelers’ upcoming rematch with the Browns.
