Mike Tomlin said George Pickens needs to grow up, and Sunday should test him on that front. The Pittsburgh Steelers play the Cleveland Browns with whom Pickens just got into an altercation with a few weeks ago. At the end of the game, Pickens attempted to fight Browns corner Greg Newsome II. It wasn’t a good look, although the argument could be made that Newsome initiated the scuffle by forcing Pickens out of bounds. Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz isn’t putting any blame on Newsome though.
“I don’t put that on Greg at all,” Schwartz said Thursday via the team’s YouTube channel. “Greg’s boxing his man out for a tip ball. I thought he executed that pretty well. You have to understand where the line is and don’t put your team in a bad position by getting a penalty. Emotions are gonna be high. It’s Pittsburgh-Cleveland. We know what that’s about.”
It’s tough to say that either player doesn’t deserve some of the blame for that scuffle. Pickens certainly isn’t innocent. No matter what Newsome was doing, he didn’t need to react in such a dramatic fashion. Schwartz is correct that tensions are going to be high in these divisional matchups, but Pickens needed to be restrained as the game ended. That’s just a step too far.
Newsome was being physical with Pickens, so he isn’t exactly a saint. Physicality is intrinsically linked to football though. Newsome is trying to do what he can to not give Pickens any space at all. Considering how many absurd catches Pickens has made this season, it’s clear what Newsome’s thought process was.
It’s similar to why Mike Tomlin said he was fine with Joey Porter Jr.’s penalties against the Cincinnati Bengals. If you’re playing Shaq, you’re gonna use your fouls. Pickens is a big-bodied receiver whose spectacular-catch ability is through the roof. It’s frustrating, but corners are going to be more physical with Pickens. That’s just the nature of his game.
Of course, Schwartz is going to defend his player too. Although he’s the enemy this week, his message rings true. This is probably going to be an emotional game. There’s no need to get called for an unnecessary penalty, which means Pickens can’t repeat his behavior from last week.
Newsome and the Browns are likely going to try to provoke Pickens. He’s the Steelers’ best weapon in the passing game. If he gets taken out of the game mentally, their offense becomes much less dynamic. If the Browns’ corners are physical with him, he can’t take the bait. He’s too talented to allow that to be his weakness.
