After the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, Mike Tomlin made it clear George Pickens needs to mature quickly. Pickens got called for two unnecessary penalties against the Bengals. That isn’t terrible in a vacuum, but it just adds to the long list of issues he’s created. Pickens’ attitude has been a problem. Ben Roethlisberger was surprised and impressed with Tomlin’s message to Pickens.
“I don’t know that I remember him doing that to a receiver in a long time, like a number one like that,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his podcast, Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger. “I thought that was big by him to do that. I think it needed to be done.
“You can’t hurt your team like that. When you get into the postseason, every little penalty, all those things are going to hurt you. For Coach [Tomlin] to say that and make a big deal about it, I thought that was well done and well-deserved.”
It was surprising to hear Tomlin give such a specific message to Pickens. Usually, he would just brush off any questions about a player’s behavior, wanting to leave any message between them and him private. It was a sign that he was getting fed up with Pickens’ immaturity.
Roethlisberger played for Tomlin for 15 years, and in that time, the Steelers had their fair share of problematic players, especially at wide receiver. Antonio Brown is a perfect example. During his prime, finding a player more talented than Brown was tough. However, he had more than a couple of meltdowns on the field. Still, it wasn’t often that Tomlin would send a public message to him.
Part of that may be because of the experience Tomlin has gained over the years. He probably doesn’t want to deal with a player with an attitude like Brown’s again. Pickens is still young and incredibly gifted. He can be one of the best receivers in the NFL, but not if he keeps getting in his own way.
Roethlisberger is also correct that those dumb penalties will come back to bite the Steelers in the playoffs. Those mistakes could be the difference between winning and losing. It’s better to get out in front of it and nip that problem in the bud. If they continue to fester, Pickens’ actions could become costly.
We’ll see how Pickens responds to Tomlin’s message. None of this matters if he continues to act the same. He had a pretty big altercation with the Cleveland Browns a few weeks ago, too, so the stage is set for him to have issues this week. Hopefully, he will keep his composure and help power the Steelers to victory.
