A video of the Baltimore Ravens trying out QB Lamar Jackson’s new unisex cologne went viral earlier this week because it sounded like a Ravens player compared the smell of the cologne to George Pickens, which another player responded “Soft? Yeah, just like that.”
The original video was posted by The Baltimore Banner on Twitter, and the outlet posted an article with a new video that showed that the Ravens weren’t actually calling Pickens soft. Instead, were talking about someone who looks like Pickens.
Here’s the original video.
The new video shows players in the background discussing someone with the same facial features as Pickens.
“Look like George Pickens. Just the face alone, just the same facial profile,” the unknown player can be heard saying in the background while DT Travis Jones tries Jackson’s new cologne.
Pickens was called “soft” earlier this season by Cleveland Browns CB Greg Newsome II, whom Pickens got into a scuffle with after Pittsburgh’s Week 12 loss to the Browns. In the original video, the part about the facial profile wasn’t included, so it sounded as if the players were discussing Pickens as being soft and the topic of Jackson’s new cologne made the comparison make some sort of sense.
It turns out, that simply wasn’t the case. The Baltimore Banner clarified in its article that the video was taken last week before the Ravens knew they were playing the Steelers (which, for what it’s worth, still wouldn’t preclude them from trash-talking Pickens). But Baltimore wasn’t attacking Pickens at all, and it wasn’t done during the week of the game where it could be a case of the Ravens playing head games with Pickens or adding extra fuel to their fire ahead of their matchup with the Steelers.
It made for a juicy headline, and it was something that Pickens was going to be asked about after practice yesterday before declining comment until later in the week, per Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
In the end, it wound up being one big misunderstanding. The timing would’ve made sense with Pickens coming off his worst game of the season, dropping three passes and catching just one for zero yards, but apparently Baltimore was just discussing a Pickens doppelganger.
With the two division rivals set to meet Saturday, there will likely still be some trash talk thrown back and forth, but Baltimore calling George Pickens soft wasn’t the start of it this week.
