Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens again was the subject of negative attention not for his play, but for his actions on the field after he made a play during the team’s 44-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday. Pickens was flagged twice for unsportsmanlike conduct, one for taunting after he dropped the ball on LB Germaine Pratt and pointed at him, and another for making a first-down gesture that looked like he was shooting a gun, drawing another 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. On GoJo and Golic, analyst Mike Golic Jr. said that Pickens’ antics are going to catch up to the Steelers at some point this season.
“George Pickens with this is going to cost the Steelers a game that he is likely going to have them in because he’s insanely talented, which is why you put up with all this. But he is a guy who is a habitual line stepper when it comes to this,” Golic said. “For Mike Tomlin, who has dealt with receivers that have, we’ll say interesting styles behind the scenes potentially over the course of his career, for him to feel compelled to come out and say this publicly lets you know the message must not be getting home behind closed doors for him.”
After the game, Tomlin said that Pickens has to “grow up in a hurry,” which was a little bit surprising since Tomlin has been fairly protective of Pickens this year pubicly. Yesterday was especially maddening because both of Pickens’ penalties came after big plays by him, but he cost the Steelers 30 total yards because he couldn’t just hand the ball to the ref and get back in the huddle, or at the very least not directly taunt an opponent.
The gun gesture wasn’t a direct taunt, which is why Pickens wasn’t ejected, but it is something that the NFL has heavily cracked down on this season and it’s a situation where Pickens needs to know better. For better or worse, he’s a player who officials probably have their eye on heading into a game given some of his antics, and he has to know that he can’t just do what he wants and taunt or act a certain way after a play. It’s going to cost the Steelers yards and at the end of the day, it’s going to make it harder for them to win.
Maybe Tomlin calling him out publicly is the kick in the pants he needs to wake up, and with a schedule that isn’t getting any easier down the stretch, the Steelers really can’t afford Pickens to continue to do whatever he wants and not think about the consequences of his actions. If he acts the way he did yesterday, there’s a chance that he could cost the Steelers in a big moment, and that’s not something they want from their No. 1 wideout.
